Community Payback Order Annual Report
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COMMUNITY PAYBACK ORDER ANNUAL REPORT FINANCIAL YEAR: 2017/18 LOCAL AUTHORITY: Aberdeenshire Types of unpaid work projects and activities which have been carried out; the total number of unpaid work hours completed during the year; and information and examples that help to demonstrate how communities benefit from unpaid work. For 2017/18, 43,700 hours were carried out by the Aberdeenshire Unpaid Work Service. There was an increase in both the number of Unpaid Work Orders made and people who undertook unpaid hours increasing from 711 (2016/17) to 730 (2017/18). Despite the increase in Orders made and individuals undertaking unpaid work hours, the total hours worked has reduced. This can be attributed to a lower attendance rate of 61.4% compared to 66.0% during year 16/17. The Service has had to become more responsive to the range of more complex needs which are assessed as part of the suitability of people to undertake unpaid work. The Court is consistent in imposing Unpaid Work with the expectation that placement type and reporting instructions meet these complex needs to enable the individual to complete the hours imposed. Immediacy at the start of the Order, speed of completion and attendance are significantly affected by the responsivity needs of the individual. Additional individual placement opportunities and changes to how workshop spaces are used have continued to be developed during year 17/18 in response to the diversity of need which the service requires to accommodate on both an equality basis and also to fulfil the expectations of the Court. The following provides in geographical area examples of unpaid work projects which have in the main being undertaken by the traditional unpaid work party model of delivery. Bigger projects often bring two work parties together and also attract cross area working with Aberdeen Unpaid Work Service. Fraserburgh: Exterior painting of community hall; clearing litter, debris and weeds from beach and esplanade; painting out racist graffiti on community buildings; landscaping garden spaces in schools, snow clearing during the harsh weather in and around supported accommodation units; clearing community pathways of weeds and brambles to improve access; gardening and tidying at communal community areas; renovating garden benches and planters for care homes; clearing board walks of sand at Philorth. Peterhead: grass cutting, painting bollards and toilet at Boddam harbour; grounds maintenance at Cruden Bay harbour green; internal painting at offices at Mind; gardening and landscaping at care home; painting sheds at care homes, snow clearance; building a fence and gate at a private home to improve access and safety for a child with a disability child who has a disability; ground works at Cruden Bay Library; beach clearance at Peterhead Bay with environmental and coastal agencies to clear tonnes of industry waste. Shelter Trading Ltd provided assistance with the installation of shelving and delivery of shop items. Banff/Huntly: allotment work involving landscaping for flower beds and vegetable plots for community Mental Health services; fence painting and ground clearance at heritage site; clearing away fly tipping debris from community areas; town litter picking in Turriff; gardening project at Auchterless school; Portsoy Boat festival litter and putting up/dismantling barriers; clearing public rights of way at Gamrie and Oldmeldrum; snow clearing; delivering food parcels from food banks to other locations. 2 Inverurie/Ellon: landscaping and building renovation at the community garden at Methlick; extensive work at Methlick War memorial gardening/path laying; path clearing at cemeteries at various locations; invasive plant species clearance along Deeside; setting mink traps in Deeside alongside Natural Heritage; gardening for supported housing at various locations; Can Do Recycling and benchmark project which is a supported employment project for people who have learning needs. Unpaid work contributing to the production of recycled garden furniture and recycling of tin cans. Stonehaven: Constructing paths for walking and cycling at Tarland; litter pick and renovation of town figure head at Inverbervie; litter clearing in Johnshaven; extensive work at local animal sanctuary; renovation of horse buggies for animal sanctuary to give pony trips to children who have a disability; slabbing and making paths around a seating area at care home in Banchory; general grass cutting in Stonehaven community areas along with litter picks; constructing raised beds and other small gardening items for gardening space within a supported adult services centre. Central Aberdeenshire: extensive work at Balmedie which involved laying and maintaining boardwalk to make the beach wheel chair accessible from the car park as well as painting and some restoration work to the community groups cabin; assisting in the construction of a wildlife garden. Workshops: During year 17/18, an additional workshop base was secured in Peterhead. Renovation work was also undertaken at the workshops in Fraserburgh and Banff in order that these spaces can be multi-purpose in their use providing opportunities for work parties as well as smaller groups, individual placements and assisted work alongside a support worker. Within the safe space of the workshop, tasks can be adapted in response to ability and also self-confidence. Start times are not reliant on transportation through the traditional pick-up process so additional needs around medication and physical health can be met. Reporting instructions are made around these arrangements to meet compliance management and also ensure that other groups do not experience a sense of discrimination if they are expected to comply with different reporting instructions. Examples of tasks which are undertaken at the workshops include: furniture upcycling, bicycle repair, making bat and bird boxes. Individual Placements: The individual placement at the community trust owned Dalgety Castle near Turriff continues to provide a whole range of individual work placements. The café offers catering and waitressing opportunities. The maintenance of the grounds involves hard landscaping, fencing, path clearing, pond maintenance and dry stone dyke restoration. The work party becomes involved at Dalgety for bigger project work. A range of new charity shops have provided individual placements across all locations in Aberdeenshire. In many incidents the experience has led people to continue volunteering as new skills and confidence develop and support networks widen. 3 An individual placement has also been created at the King Street Resource Centre. The establishment of the Centre as a working base has created opportunities for people on unpaid work to contribute in a meaningful way on both an unpaid hours and any other activity basis. For example, the clothing bank which is located at the Centre is maintained on the same basis as clothing donated through a charity shop. Unpaid work tasks are undertaken in the sorting, washing and ironing of the items which are donated. Emergency food parcels are also available from the Centre. Unpaid hours are undertaken through the maintenance of stock and packaging. New skills are rehearsed in both these tasks as well contributing the wellbeing and support of others in need. Art, photography and craftwork undertaken as any other activity is displayed around the Centre. This promotes a sense of investment in the building and pride in achievement which is visible to others. Horticultural placements at the “Community Justice Allotment” in Longside, SAMH gardening project at Mintlaw and the community owned Huntly allotment links opportunities for unpaid work with active community participation. These placements can be supported on an individual basis as well as providing opportunities for small group and traditional work parties. The services within criminal justice and substance misuse use the allotment space at Longside as an alternative intervention space as well as introducing health and wellbeing through exercise and growing fruit and vegetables. Quotes from people on CPOs and beneficiaries about the impact of the unpaid work on them and/or the community. The following quotes have been taken from Questionnaires completed by people who have successfully completed their Unpaid hours. “Doing the unpaid work gave me the drive to get up and got me back into the swing of having a job and made me go out and start volunteering at a local charity shop” “My interaction with the staff, volunteers and indeed, customers helped me regain self-belief and self-confidence. I was not made to feel different despite my reason for being there” “ It put some structure in my life which helped my depression and I managed to reduce my medication gradually over the time I was doing the Order” “I learned the proper way to do things and new skills. I have stopped drinking and feel good and am working forward to my new start in life” “ I have been out of work and socialising for a long time, unpaid work has gotten me used to working as part of a team again, given me confidence to try new skills and show that I am capable of finishing a project once it’s started” “Unpaid work helped me see that there are consequences to doing crime and I feel good that I helped the community and also I got a lot out of it like routine and new skills” 4 These comments have been taken from questionnaires completed by beneficiaries: “I can't thank you enough for helping to organise a work party for Saturday. Please pass on my huge thanks to the task supervisor, I'm not sure if the young man she brought, who is a builder, was intentional but he saved the day! It was cold, wet and we ran out of materials, which was unfortunate, as about 2/3 of the plinth was completed within an hour. We really are very grateful please remember to pass on our thanks. As a result the plinth now has over a week to dry before the sculpture arrives” - Preparation for a sculpture in a community space.