News Archive

Ryther Village Hall To Get Make Over From Local Offenders - 10/11/2014

THE LONG-AWAITED refurbishment of the village hall in Ryther has begun - thanks to the support of York’s Community Payback team, who have stepped into the breach to paint and brighten up the much loved village asset.

Led by the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company’s supervisor, Joe Murphy, teams of eight offenders will be working daily throughout the winter months to ensure that the hall is spic and span in time for the spring.

The project was nominated by local resident and chair of the village hall, Mr John Murray MBE. He explains;

“The village hall is a well used and much loved asset and it is frequently used by the community and surrounding areas for a wide range of social activities. The present committee works tirelessly on behalf of the local community in trying to raise funds to improve the hall - so when the Community Payback team offered a much needed helping hand we were delighted. It is hoped that the newly decorated venue will attract even more bookings for parties and other social events.”

Recent improvements have included a new storeroom extension and sound proofing to the building – and the committee is currently raising funds to have a kitchen extension.

Community Payback is a nationwide project where offenders pay back communities for the crimes they have committed whilst serving community sentences. Residents can choose the type of projects offenders carry out in their community as part of an unpaid work sentence.

Ed Gray, York Community Payback Manager, The Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Limited, said:

“This is another excellent example of a Community Payback project bringing huge benefits to local people. Working on this and other similar projects across Tadcaster means offenders not only give something back to the community but it teaches them valuable practical skills and techniques to take away for the future.”

The Community Payback team is no stranger to the Tadcaster area, as the team already frequently undertake work on behalf of the Town Council.

Jane Crowther, Clerk, Tadcaster Town Council, explains;

“The Payback team regularly maintains the town’s cemetery and we often receive comments from those visiting the cemetery that is looking so much better. This is due, in no small part, to all the hard work and efforts of the supervisors and the teams that work there.”

Ryther village hall is to be refurbished by local offenders.

Ryther village hall is to be refurbished by local offenders.

Transforming Rehabilitation - Announcements Of Preferred Bidders - 29/10/2014

 

Purple Futures is the preferred bidder for HLNY CRC Ltd.

The Secretary of State has today announced the Preferred Bidders for the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The Preferred Bidder for HLNY CRC is Purple Futures, an Interserve led partnership.

This outcome follows a rigorous evaluation and moderation process which was subject to thorough assurance processes, both internally in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and externally through Cabinet Office and Treasury.

Over 80 bids were received, with a healthy competition in all Contract Package Areas and an average of four bidders for each area. Bids have been rigorously evaluated with a focus on securing the highest quality provision across the country.

The full list of the Preferred Bidders for all 21 CRCs is available on the Ministry of Justice website.

Offender Help Create A Big Stir...All For A Good Cause - 10/10/2014

The car park was "filter bursting" with people enjoying a coffee and cake.

The car park was “filter bursting” with people enjoying a coffee and cake.

Caring staff and offenders from the probation services in Hull proudly supported Macmillan’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’, on Friday 26 September 2014.

Probation’s Community Payback team hosted the drop-in coffee and cake event on Friday morning, which was open to probation staff, offenders and Community Payback beneficiaries and partners.

‘The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ is Macmillan Cancer Support’s biggest fundraising event. Last year the event raised £10 million; enough to fund 200 of the charity’s nurses and support 27,000 people (and their families) affected by cancer.

As well as helping to set up for the event, offenders lent a helping hand by serving the refreshments and homemade delights; all of which were generously donated by probation staff, family and friends.

Many of our staff turned their hand at baking!

Many of our staff turned their hand at baking!

As well as raising much needed funds for Macmillan, the Community Payback team showcased some of the local payback projects which they have recently completed, including maintaining footpaths and walk ways in the East Riding area and garden clearance work for the elderly and vulnerable adults.

Every year offenders complete thousands of hours of unpaid work - better known as ‘Community Payback’ - supporting local organisations and charities on projects that may not otherwise be completed.

Helen Gunn, Community Payback Manager, The Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Limited, said:

“Macmillan is a fantastic charity and we were thrilled to take part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Cancer is a terrible illness that can effect any one of us at some stage in our lives, so I am delighted that were able to raise over £230 from the morning.

 

“As well as supporting such a great event, the coffee morning also gave offenders an opportunity to meet some of our beneficiaries and partners. Community Payback is about making amends and it’s important that people understand that offenders can have compassion for the community in which they live - and many want to make amends for the harm they have caused.”

Community Payback is the name and logo used for the unpaid work that offenders carry out. It has been designed to highlight the work of offenders to put something back into communities in which they’ve offended. The majority of the work and projects are nominated by local authorities and members of the public. It enables offenders to provide reparation and payback the community for criminal behaviour, whilst also encouraging and developing employment and training opportunities which in turn helps reduce reoffending.

Muck & Magic In Scarborough - 06/10/2014

Pictured: Volunteers, Rita Hooton and Jan Cleary, with Karl Parkin, Community Payback Manager and Paul Pratt, Community Payback Supervisor.

Pictured: Volunteers, Rita Hooton and Jan Cleary, with Karl Parkin, Community Payback Manager and Paul Pratt, Community Payback Supervisor.

Hundreds of people flocked to Scarborough’s Spa Complex in late September for the Scarborough in Bloom 2014 awards ceremony.

The annual event is a celebration of the tireless work by green-fingered members of the community by keep the borough looking bright and beautiful all year long.

The Scarborough Community Payback received the ‘All Muck and Magic Community Partnership Award’ for their work lifting gravestones at Dean Road Cemetery, in partnership with Scarborough Borough Council and The Friends of Dean Road Cemetery.

The evening was hosted by Roger Burnett and Faye Yeomans, who praised the “great sense of community spirit” that exists within the borough of Scarborough.

If you wish to receive regular updates on the work of the Community Payback team you can follow “@HLNYPayback” on Twitter.

Have a project for the team? You can nominate a project online on our “Nominate A Community Payback Project” page.

Lincolnshire blooms with the help of Community Payback - 26/09/2014

Community Payback Supervisor Dave Hardy (extreme right) was part of the team that collected the award.

Community Payback Supervisor Dave Hardy (extreme right) was part of the team that collected the award.

Three East Lindsey towns have flourished in the East Midlands in Bloom competition with the help and support of the Community Payback team in Lincoln.

The project, which has involved over 1,150 hours of Community Payback, was judged by horticultural experts in July. In the large town category Louth achieved a silver gilt award for the third time running and Mablethorpe received a silver gilt in the coastal entry.

In the lead up to the event, offenders worked hard to make amends for their crimes by helping the villagers prepare for judging day. Work included the cutting back of thick vegetation and weeds, undertaking edge cutting, fence painting and litter picking.

In addition, as a mark of respect, the team tidied and spruced up 34 Commonwealth War graves, including that of 17 year old Herbert Ladlow a native of the town. At the same time the team planted poppy seeds around the graves, which are now in full bloom.

The HLNY CRC Community Payback team maintaining Commonwealth War Graves.

The HLNY CRC Community Payback team maintaining Commonwealth War Graves.

Jeff Bates, chairperson of East Midlands in Bloom said: “The awards are given in recognition for all the hard work, time and dedication to enrich the environment where we all live. We are also very grateful for the support from businesses, which enables us to continue each year.”

Dave Hardy, Unpaid Work Supervisor, Lincoln adds; “We were thrilled to support local residents prepare for the judging and we are delighted at their success. Besides the benefits to us all, of offenders paying back to the community for their crimes, the work that takes place during projects like this provides rigorous and demanding punishment.”

The team has since started work on a nearby wildflower meadow. The one acre site is being cutback and replanted in the hope it will be in full bloom for next spring.

Offender Mentoring Project Secures Additional Funding - 01/09/2014

11/08/2014 - Evaluation Of SOVA's Lincolnshire Offender Mentoring Scheme

Click here to read the publication.

A mentoring project, which works to address the many barriers faced by disadvantaged offenders, has been awarded funding by Lincolnshire County Council’s Safer Communities Service, to enable it to continue service delivery until 31st March 2015.

The national charity, Sova, and local probation services - The National Probation Service and The Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company - have been working in partnership since September 2013 to deliver the ‘Lincolnshire Offender Mentoring Programme’.

Community volunteers are recruited, trained and supported to work one-to-one with offenders under probation supervision. They design and agree a bespoke support package for each individual offender, which enables and empowers that person to overcome barriers and successfully complete their community sentence, making our local communities safer places in which to live.

In January 2014 a team of researchers from the University of Lincoln undertook an evaluation of Sova’s Lincolnshire Offender Mentoring Programme, and their report was key to securing the additional funding.

The research found that:

  • Sova and Probation had developed an effective inter-agency partnership with excellent levels of communication
  • The project is valued by both probation staff and offenders, and that it helped improve the service offered to offenders
  • Communication between the two agencies was supported by having a representative from Sova based in Probation’s offices and that the Sova representative was easy to contact
  • All Probation staff commented that mentoring helped to improve the service provided for offenders
  • All offenders commented that the mentoring project provided a ‘trusting’ and ‘caring’ service
  • All offenders commented that being mentored had played an important role in helping them not to reoffend
  • All participants commented that mentoring was beneficial in supporting offenders and stated that they would be disappointed if the programme were discontinued.

BA (Hons) criminology student, Phillippa Lucy Norton (21), worked on the report. She said;

“The Sova Offender Mentoring Project was very interesting to work on as we had the opportunity to interview ex-offenders, probation officers and Sova staff. We found that the project actually was very successful, and our report reflected that. The project allowed me to gain a lot of invaluable experience such as interview skills and how to talk to different kinds of people on a one-to-one basis. It was a chance to be part of a functioning workforce and helped me to see that I wanted to work with the offenders and ex-offenders in a direct way.”

Claire Seabourne of the Safer Communities Service agreed, adding;

“By commissioning a service to support and mentor offenders we are reducing the chances of these people reoffending and encouraging them to become reformed members of the local community. Since this project began in September 2013, a total of 30 offenders have benefitted from these sessions. Whilst it may be too early to say that all participants will turn their lives around, we are giving them every opportunity to do so. We are pleased to continue to contribute the funding which will allow this successful project to continue.”

Helen Walsh, Volunteer Mentor Coordinator for Sova, who is based at the Probation offices in Lincoln said;

“We are all delighted that the offender mentoring service will be able to continue until the end of the 2014/15 financial year, so that we can provide support to even more offenders and help them to change their lives for the better. I would like to thank the lecturers and students from the University of Lincoln’s Criminology Department, whose report underpinned our proposal that the project should be continue to be funded. I would also like to thank the Safer Communities Service for understanding and endorsing the merit of this work, and the very real, practical contribution it makes to reducing crime in Lincolnshire.”

Bogus Door To Door Sales - 20/08/14

CRC urges residents to be vigilant about bogus door-to-door sales

Beware Of Bogus Door To Door Sales.There has been a report from residents in York of people posing as ex-offenders or offenders, seeking to sell products or services door-to-door. They claim to be working on a project that is backed by the probation service.

Please be assured that the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Limited operates no scheme of this nature and our advice is not to buy from salespeople who claim to be part of this project.

Anyone approached by any person who claims to be working under the authority the Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Limited in this way should immediately contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, giving as much detail as possible about the person and the business they claim to represent.

North Yorkshire police would urge residents to always ask to see identification when a stranger calls at the door, or ring the company they claim to be from to make sure they are who they say they are. Legitimate door to door sales people will always have proof of identity.

The Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Limited does not issue identity badges to ex/offenders.

Matthew Grove - Probation The Hidden Heroes - 30/07/2014

Humberside Police & Crime Commissioner Mathew Grove recently posted this article on his official blog. In his blog he refers to Probation as the “Hidden Heroes”. Find out why…

Mathew Grove - Humberside Police & Crime Commissioner.

Mathew Grove - Humberside Police & Crime Commissioner

As we go about our daily lives, we see headlines, hear reports and read stories in the media about crime and offenders and base our opinions on the headlines and stories available to us. You would be forgiven then, for not knowing about the vast amount of work that happens nationally and locally to protect us all. We’ve all heard of the Probation Service, but unless you work in the Service or have experienced it yourself, you cannot appreciate just how much hard work is going on to protect us by rehabilitating offenders once they have been released from prison or those serving community sentences.

It was a national scandal that until recently, most offenders serving less than a year in prison had been released with no support structure whatsoever and in too many cases had reoffended within hours. It is also a fact that offenders on short prison sentences are almost three times more likely to commit another crime when they are released, and one of the reasons for this is the lack of time to deliver effective rehabilitation while they are in prison.

The Government recognised something had to be done, and from last month Probation has been split into two organisations to better serve the public and reduce reoffending. The National Probation Service will concentrate on managing high risk offenders who pose the greatest risk of harm, including those on life sentences who have been released on licence. They will continue the vital work they have always done to monitor and work with ex-offenders, all of whom will have undergone extensive rehabilitation in prison before they are considered for release. One major change begins in October, when sex offenders released into the community will be subject to regular lie detector tests to check they are sticking to their licence conditions, as well as GPS tagging to track their movements.

For lower risk offenders who are sentenced to less than a year in prison, or a community sentence, a new Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has been created serving local regions, in our case Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire. The CRC will take on this work, providing courses designed to tackle the root causes of offending. These courses will be included as conditions of an offenders’ release, meaning they have to be completed or they will be taken back to court to receive a more serious sentence or returned to prison. They will measure an offender’s motivation and progress, and help decide what further work is needed to aid their rehabilitation. It may be about building better relationships, managing alcohol or drug dependency or improving their education and skills.

No offender should ever be released from prison and left to their own devices. If they have only served a short sentence there is every chance they will offend again and create more victims and more misery. The Probation Service and CRC will continue to do what they have always done; change offenders’ behaviour and move them away from crime. Their service often goes under the radar, but they are there, making life better for all of us and rightly deserve our recognition. I will continue to both support and challenge the Probation Service on your behalf to ensure offenders are properly managed in our communities.

Matthew

Permission, with thanks and acknowledgement, to the office of The Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside.

Scarborough Community Payback - BBC WW1 at Home - 17/07/2014

Scarborough Community Payback Team Appear On The BBC’s “WW1 at Home”.

On 17 July 2014, our Scarborough Community Payback team, in partnership with Scarborough Council, was filmed re-erecting headstones in the town’s cemetery by BBC Look North which is filming for a special week long feature ‘WWI at Home’ - to be aired during the first week in August.

The Community Payback team were filmed re-erecting the headstone of Harry Frith (also the resting placed of his wife Eliza Ann), a local resident, who was killed in December 1914 during the bombardment of Scarborough aged 45 years.

The Community Payback team is no stranger to the worksite. The team has already re-erected over 400 stones, including a victim of the Titanic, in the last 20 months under the watchful eye of experienced CP Supervisor Paul Pratt.

The offenders did themselves proud and made the task look effortless despite it being a very physically demanding task. We look forward to seeing the team making their TV début soon!

Scarborough Community Payback Team appear on the BBC's "WW1 At home".

The team has already re-erected over 400 stones, under the watchful eye of experienced CP Supervisor Paul Pratt.

The Health Support Service: Winner Of The 2014 Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Partnership Award - 08/07/2014

The Health Support Service: Winner Of The 2014 Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Partnership Award.

The HLNY CRC is celebrating after been awarded the ‘Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Partnership’ award in partnership with the local NHS and local authority.

The Health Support Service is funded by the public health directorate of Lincolnshire County Council and consists of staff from the NHS, local authority and the CRC, enabling the team to draw upon a range of experiences and perspectives.

In addition to providing health assessments and programmes to offenders, the team also provide a range of services to other vulnerable groups including the Princes Trust Programme, where the team deliver sessions on drugs and alcohol, emotional wellbeing and eating healthily on a budget.

Last year the team contributed to 12 Princes Trust ‘Team’ programmes throughout Lincolnshire, which reached in excess of 150 unemployed young adults. It was for this work that the Health Support Service won the ‘Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Partnership’ award, which was presented at a ceremony at Branston Hall Hotel in June.

This work typifies the teams preventative approach to vulnerable groups, including the active engagement of non-offending adults. The provision of emotional and physical health interventions not only improves the quality of their life, but potentially diverts them from behaviours which may lead them to entering the criminal justice system.

The Health Support Service is a relatively small, yet sharply focused service. Quantitative and qualitative data demonstrates the positive impact effective partnerships and a holistic approach can have on the most marginalised individuals in our society, who can display the most destructive behaviours towards themselves and those around them, not least potential victims of crime.

HLNY CRC winner Of The 2014 Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Partnership Award.

John Cook presents the award to HLNY CRC Ltd staff.