Tongariro Prison has donated five refurbished bikes to Live for More Charitable Trust in Tauranga.
The bikes were stripped, serviced and spruced up by men in Tongariro’s bike and painting workshops, and then delivered to their new home by Case Manager/Youth Practitioner Darell Innes and Industries Manager Tanima Bernard.
Live for More uses surf therapy to engage at-risk young people and empower them to create a better future for themselves. Tauranga Community Corrections and Tongariro Prison have forged a strong relationship with the trust to help turn the lives of these young people around.
Darell says the Live for More team were absolutely stoked to receive the bikes that were specially painted in their signature teal green with the Live for More logo.
“They do some truly amazing work with youth,” says Darell. “Donating the bikes is just a simple way to help support this mahi.”
“The bikes will be available for programme participants to use to attend appointments, including meetings with their probation officers and job interviews.”
Darell first heard of Live for More about a year ago when a fellow Case Manager spoke about the success they were having with youth released from prison and serving community-based sentences. From then on Darell has been engaging with the trust to look at ways to support young people being released from Tongariro to the Bay of Plenty.
When Darell and Tanima delivered the bikes, they had an opportunity to spend some time with the current programme participants. The young men shared their stories of how the programme has helped them, their love of surfing and how Live for More staff have supported and cared for them.
“Tanima and I were very humbled by their stories and so impressed by how positive and engaged they were.”
“We got to catch up with a man who was released from Tongariro in 2018 - he is now employed full-time by the trust as a mentor. He spoke about how the programme he did in prison was life-changing for him and that the support from Live for More and Community Corrections has helped keep him out of prison.”
To find out more about Live for More visit their website.