COMMUNITIES GET THEIR PAYBACK

COMMUNITIES GET THEIR PAYBACK

GROUPS of offenders paying back for the crimes they have committed have contributed more than 35,000 hours of service to their local communities in West Wales this year.

People completing Community Payback activity through the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) as part of their sentencing have collectively done 363,418 hours of service to their local area in 2017. Locally in West Wales, that figure stands at 36,642.

Wales CRC works with local organisations to complete often very manual tasks to breathe life into buildings, community areas and street scenes.

Tasks range from cleaning graffiti from walls and picking up litter to creating new garden spaces and renovating buildings. Individuals, rather than groups, also pay back through working in charity shops.

Dawn Blower, Wales CRC Probation Director, said: “Community Payback provides a tough, effective and visible punishment and deterrent, requiring people to undertake challenging work while giving some tangible value back to communities that suffer as a result of crime.

“It also provides an opportunity for people to turn their experience into a positive one by picking up new skills that can help them towards paid employment and leading more stable, positive and crime-free lives.”

Projects must always benefit the local community, be challenging and be worthwhile. To nominate a project, visit www.walescrc.co.uk

Wales CRC is owned and managed by Working Links. To find out more about Working Links, call 0800 917 9262 or visit www.workinglinks.co.uk