Criminals paying back their debt to society
MPonthe huntfor bestpub
SHIRLEY BARTYNEK
South Lanarkshire Council provide more than 500 unpaid work places each year to people on Community Payback Orders.
A variety of activities undertaken by those issued with the court order were on show at an Unpaid Work Service open day hosted by the local authority.
Service users and members of staff were on hand at Auchentibber Resource Centre, in Blantyre, to explain the kind of work they do and the benefits it can bring to communities.
A stream of visitors, from professionals to volunteers to elected council members, kept the facility busy throughout the day as guides took them around the exhibits.
Liam Purdie, head of children and justice services, said: “More than 500 unpaid work placements are provided in South Lanarkshire each year, but there is often a misconception that there is a limited amount of activities that this can involve, such as physical outdoor work like painting railings or working on parkland.
“In reality, a surprisingly wide range of work can be undertaken such as environmental improvements or conservation activities, or service users can support local charitable organisations, community/ voluntary groups or people in hardship or crisis.
“For example, we have a laundry service which can provide both short-term emergency assistance for individuals and ongoing work for charities and local groups, and a workshop where a huge range of work can be carried out, including anything from refurbishment of benches for parks to the fabrication of story chairs for schools.”
One activity that caught the eye – and the taste buds – of many of the visitors to the open day was the bread-making taking place in the Authentibber unit’s kitchen.
Among those on one of the tours were volunteers from a food bank that receives bread from the Unpaid Work Service, and they took the chance to express their gratitude and that the families Open day who receive it had been thrilled with it.
Liam added: “Places like this foodbank and the Blue Triangle Housing Association are just two examples of places that benefit from the bread-making, and I and all those who were there at the open day can attest to how good it tastes.
“It also shows perfectly the beauty of the Unpaid Work Service in that how so many different people can benefit, including those who are undertaking the Community Payback Orders themselves who learn skills they had probably never even thought about before, skills that they can then take into their lives that can hopefully help them to find a new path.
“It is not just the learning of the new skills, though: unpaid work also gives some people the opportunity to experience any sort of working life at all for the first time, giving them the confidence to look for work and helping them to avoid offending in the future.” Dr Lisa Cameron MP is calling on pub-goers in EK, Strathaven and Lesmahagow to nominate their favourite Constituency pub for the Parliamentary Pub of the Year Awards.
This award focuses on celebrating pubs in our communities and will give 650 MPs the opportunity to nominate a pub to be recognised as the Parliamentary pub of the year.
The main criteria for nomination is a pub that is great at what they do, this can include the range of beer or food provided, the dedication to serving the local Community or a specialism in music or sports.
Before selecting the representative for the area, Dr Cameron is asking pub-goers to nominate their favourite local, which will then be selected following an email poll when constituents get in touch on lisa.cameron.mp@ parliament.uk
Lisa said: “I’m asking local people to nominate their favourite pub and the most popular choice will go forward as our favourite local entrant.”