Community Payback - Your chance to choose how offenders pay back for their crimes

Local people are being given the chance to influence how offenders pay communities back for the crimes they have committed.

Community Payback, a scheme being launched this week by the National Probation Service, will let the people of Warwickshire choose the type of unpaid work done by offenders serving a community order.

The initiative in Warwickshire is being launched on Wednesday 23rd November 2005 at The Family Community Care Centre, Ramsden Ave, Camp Hill, Nuneaton where offenders are cutting back overgrown areas and preparing the ground for landscaping.

Guests invited to the launch include local councillors, Neighbourhood Watch Scheme representatives, Local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, Local Criminal Justice Board members and beneficiaries of past and present unpaid work projects.

Last year, Warwickshire benefited from 36,695 hours of unpaid work carried out by offenders through 140 different group projects and individual placements, but this work often goes unnoticed. This is why residents in Warwickshire are being encouraged to join forces and help make their community a better place to live in by becoming actively involved in the selection of unpaid work projects.

Projects must meet certain criteria, for example, they must take place on public land, must not involve work which would normally be done by paid employees and must meet certain health and safety requirements. But within these guidelines there is plenty of scope for people to nominate projects they would like to see carried out in their area.

Suggestions for unpaid work projects can be put forward online by visiting http://www.warwickshireprobation.org.uk/probation/payback or sent in writing to:
Unpaid Work Scheme Manager,
Warwickshire Probation Area,
Warwickshire Justice Centre,
Vicarage St,
Nuneaton,
CV11 4JU.

Chief Officer of Warwickshire, Liz Stafford said: "Community Payback will encourage people to feel involved in and informed about what goes on in their neighbourhoods. As a result the local area will benefit and we hope people will take a long term, pro-active interest in offenders' work and how projects are developing."

Once projects are completed, they will be branded with the Community Payback logo to show where offenders have positively contributed to improving their own neighbourhood.

Trish Matthews, manager of the Camp Hill gardening project says, "The Probation Service joined the project in April 2005 and the extra man hours provided have enabled the project to grow substantially and contributed to the overall improvement of the area. The offenders come from wide and varied backgrounds but they all seem pleased when their efforts are appreciated by local people who pass by the project and praise their work."