Caithness Community Halls receiving ‘unseen’ help

Issued on behalf of the Highland Community Justice Partnership

Community owned Halls across Highland are receiving much needed help from perhaps one of the most stigmatised groups in society, namely those with a criminal record. Staxigoe Hall near Wick is a great example, where the Community Payback team has helped with the refurbishment of the Hall three times now.

Staxigoe Hall, a great and cherished venue is beautifully situated by the harbour, which was the first and largest herring salting station in Europe. The hall has now been painted and decorated three times by the Community Payback team.

Gabrielle Buist from Highland Community Justice Partnership says: “A sentence in the community can change the path of a person’s life, as well as contributing to and improving their community. It is often community leaders (such as Pat Ramsay) who appreciate that we all have to pull together, to invest time and skills in people in order to make our communities safer in the long term. Useful work gets done all around Highland communities which mostly goes unseen and unacknowledged. This is part of my role as HCJP Development Officer to raise awareness about what ‘community justice’ is and why it’s important. As the saying goes ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, well our responsibility towards one another should not end there. Community Justice is all about partnership and collaboration, recognising that keeping people safe and reducing reoffending is a joint responsibility.”

Steve MacDonald, Highland Council’s - Community Payback Officer added: “Clients who are sent to us from Wick Sheriff Court have a legal obligation to pay back to the community that they have offended against. It’s important to give them structure, meaningful tasks and hopefully learn new skills while being mentored and encouraged by the Supervisors. The value of the Community Payback Order to both the client and to the community cannot be understated as they are a proven method of minimising the likelihood of a client re-offending.”

Photo of Steve MacDonald, Highland Council’s - Community Payback Officer

Where needed community-based sentences include treatment for underlying issues such as drug or alcohol addiction, offence-focused programmes, unpaid work, fines and compensation or restrictions of liberty such as electronic tagging and curfews. It’s not a ‘soft option’ and neither is it ‘just litter picking’. The evidence shows community justice can help people to stop breaking the law, to step away from the vicious cycle of reoffending. Sentences served in the community are more effective than those served in prison. It keeps people in their communities where they are connected to all the important relationships and support networks needed for a productive life, resulting in less crime being committed.

An un-named Client said: “I’ve been working on this project as part of my unpaid work for a couple of weeks now. It’s good to learn new things about painting and decorating which Bob shows us and knowing that we are doing some good in the community makes it all worthwhile. Since starting this job, I can even say that I actually look forward to my unpaid work day and have even come out doing extra days.”

Pat Ramsay is Chairperson of Staxigoe Hall Board along with her husband, Grant who is a Trustee.

Photo of Pat and Grant Ramsay Staxigoe Hall Board

Pat said: “I am delighted with the ongoing support from the Justice Service over many years. Our most recent project being the refurbishing of Staxigoe Village Hall has been fantastic! The Hall has had a complete new heating system installed plus internal and external insulation along with LED lighting throughout. The Justice Team has cleared the place of rubbish and then completed a programme of painting … the main hall being the largest aspect. It’s a complete transformation with a new contemporary colour scheme. The team have been so flexible in their timescale allowing us to run a few events before our official reopening soon. We’ve appreciated the regular communication and weekly updates which have been vital. The team are also working on the picnic benches at the Harbour, ready for the sunny days. They will also continue with their summer programme of grass cutting at the Harbour plus the Hall. They are an invaluable resource in our area and their work is appreciated by our community.”

Image of Works at Staxigoe Hall

Bob Miller, Community Payback Supervisor said: “Undertaking such sizeable projects as Staxigoe Hall is very satisfying knowing that if we weren’t here to help, it just wouldn’t get done. I’m a time served painter and decorator to trade, and I take pride in showing the clients how to effectively prepare and complete the task to a high standard. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know that clients are taking away valuable skills which they can use elsewhere to hopefully make their lives better in the long term.”

Gabrielle Buist from Highland Community Justice Partnership says: “The chances of someone reoffending are reduced significantly when they can maintain their contact with family, their accommodation and their work. Community justice is about finding ways for offenders to serve a sentence from home, while getting support to rehabilitate and the opportunity to give back to the community. There is of course a place for prisons but like James Timpson (UK Gov Prisons Minister) says only one third of offenders need to be behind bars. This does call for a degree of tolerance from our communities, along with the willingness to actively offer meaningful jobs, as well as individual placements especially in remote parts of Highland.”

The Highland Community Justice Partnership pays tribute to all those groups who are working with community payback teams and offering projects and placements; including charity shops, churches, community hubs, gardens & cafes, trusts, councils and groups all around Highland.

If you have some jobs that need done or would consider taking on a placement then do get in touch for an initial chat.

To find out about your local scheme, contact: criminaljustice@highland.gov.uk

Phone:

• Caithness & Sutherland 01955 603161
• Ross-shire 01349 884118
• Inverness 01463 242511
• Lochaber 01397 704668
• Skye & Lochalsh 01478 612943

You can stay up to date with Community Payback projects around Highland on Facebook: facebook.com/CommunityJusticeHighland