Thursday 22nd October, 2009

Chief officers join clean–up in Yatesbury

Chief officers join clean–up in Yatesbury Chief officers from Wiltshire’s criminal justice agencies donned Community Payback vests and protective goggles, were handed large gardening shears and then proceeded to work alongside offenders to help clear up the church field in Yatesbury.

Wiltshire Probation Chief Officer Diana Fulbrook was joined by Andy Rogers, the governor of Erlestoke Prison in Devizes; Karen Harrold, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Wiltshire and chair of Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board; and Simon Fletcher, Relationship Manager for the Legal Services Commission.

During Inside Justice Week 2009, offenders sentenced to undertake unpaid work at the site began to clear the area of overgrown trees and bushes after the project came first in a public vote conducted on the Wiltshire Probation Service website. Yatesbury beat off competition from projects in Swindon and Trowbridge to secure the help of the offenders to make the church field safe for children to play.

Yatesbury Church Warden Gib Hancock, who submitted the application on behalf of the village, commented: “The work the offenders have done has been tremendous. We did have our doubts but they have worked so hard and I think it has been good for them to see they are making a difference. We have a climbing frame and some goal posts which we will put up so the children have somewhere to play.”

“For me, the clean–up project is not about punishment. It’s about allowing offenders the chance to contribute something positive to our community. So by clearing the space around the church and village hall that allows children from the village and surrounding area to use and hopefully benefit from, the offenders will have created something that wouldn’t have happened without their support,” added Church Vicar Phillip Bromiley.

The chief officers from Wiltshire’s criminal justice system agreed that the experience had been very rewarding to join in and to see what work has been done. “To see people making a difference is really good and it was quite enjoyable to get involved. It gave us a chance to experience what it is like to be an offender doing unpaid work as part of a community sentence.”

Over 300 local residents voted in an online poll to determine which Community Payback project would begin during Inside Justice Week and villagers were delighted to discover Yatesbury had won a staggering 85% of them.

Inside Justice Week was a major public initiative in 2009 running from 17–24 October that aimed to open up the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to the public through a week of coordinated events and media activity across England and Wales.

< Back to home page