UNPAID WORK

Unpaid Work (or community service as it was originally called) is one of the twelve requirements of the Community Order. Offenders are sentenced by the courts to perform up to 300 hours of Unpaid Work for the benefit of the community. A sentence involving Unpaid Work is often ordered by magistrates for offences such as anti-social behaviour, vandalism and graffiti. It is the most visible of all our work with offenders.

Every year communities benefit from over 5 million hours of free labour provided by offenders. In Merseyside alone this is worth over £1 million. Much of the work has a regeneration aspect – bringing derelict areas and buildings back into public use; clearing church yards, decorating community centres and landscaping waste ground; repairing park benches and playground equipment. Some of the projects are relatively small; others, such as turning a derelict piece of land into a community garden, can last a year or more. Close links have been made with the National Trust, and conservation projects are ongoing.

The Probation Service would like communities to have more of a say in the projects we undertake, and the aim is to set up community groups in each probation area which will act as the focus for community involvement in Unpaid Work. The aim is to encourage community ownership and to show how offenders can help make their communities better places to live. This initiative is called Community Payback.

YOU CAN CHOOSE THE WORK THESE PEOPLE DO

We want to use unpaid work hours to help reduce crime in your area. For example, the pictures below show a once derelict piece of land, used for criminal activity, now transformed completely by offenders on unpaid work. The initiative (run in partnership with the local council) was so successful that it was visited by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Do you know of somewhere on Merseyside that could do with a re-vamp or clean-up, and that falls into one of the categories listed above? If so, e.mail Kathy Felton-Aksoy with details. Please include (where possible) a contact name, address and telephone number for the project site itself.

A LETTER RECEIVED FROM A BENEFICIARY OF UNPAID WORK

Rod,

I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank you and your colleague Cathy for the enormous help you gave us in preparing Springwood Crematorium for its Green Flag submission.

I have to say that some of my colleagues were sceptical about utilising the probation service in this way, but as a result of the superb work done by those on community service and the level of application and commitment shown by their supervisor in diligently administering the task, any reservations harboured have been thoroughly banished.

I also hope that for those carrying out the community service orders, the experience of working within the pleasant grounds of Springwood Crematorium has in some way proved beneficial.

I am confident that the work carried out over the past week will go a long way in helping us achieve Green Flag status for Springwood (the state of the benches was a major criticism last year). I would also hope that as a result of our experiences working with you, we may now come to you again some time in future.

Please convey my thanks to all concerned,

Kind Regards

Martin Doherty
Cemeteries & Crematoria Service
Compliance Officer
Allerton

This letter is typical of many we receive in the course of our day to day work with offenders.