Offenders in Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire working on community payback have put nearly £1m back into their community according to the latest figures by Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company (HLNY CRC).

HLNY CRC, which is responsible for supervising offenders on community payback and ensuring they comply with their sentence and the orders of the court, delivered 118,162 hours in the past 12 months to December 2017.

With the national wage standing at £7.83 that equates to £925,208 of work delivered.

Those ordered to take on unpaid community payback work participate in a range of manual tasks, including removing graffiti, litter picking, clearing parks and cemeteries, renovating buildings and work in charity shops.

Magistrates or judges can sentence offenders to carry out anything from 40 to 300 hours of unpaid work as part of their order. Community payback must include a minimum of a day’s work – lasting at least seven hours – once a week.

People can also be sentenced to intensive community payback orders, which mean they must complete 28 hours of work every week.

All projects combine hard work and the chance for the participant to develop skills. It is also a punishment as the individual is giving up their time to carry out the work.

Community sentences can be given for crimes including damaging property, benefit fraud and assault. They are often handed out by judges and magistrates when the offender is appearing at court for the first time or when it is thought such a sentence may be more likely to stop an offender committing crimes than a prison sentence.

Martin Davies, chief executive at HLNY CRC, said: “Community payback provides a tough, effective and visible punishment requiring people to undertake challenging work while giving something back to communities where they live.

“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.”

*The Community Payback Team in Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire would like to hear about other projects which residents think will make a real difference to their community. You can nominate a project for community payback at here