John_Hartley Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 Came across this article almost by accident. It reports that groups of offenders sentenced to do unpaid work in the community (community service, as was) are now being used as labour to clear overgrown burial grounds and, in future, will provide on-going maintenance of the graves. One of the pilot areas is my ex-employer - the Greater Manchester area of the Probation Service. I'll try and find out some more details. Click here for article John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookaburra Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 This is an excellent idea. Well done the CWGC and the National Probation Service to come to this arrangement. Cheers, Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 I have had offenders do work in our community. The work was well done and I hope it did them some good. We call them 'the Chain Gang'. They are due back shortly for another round of work.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Johnson Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 What an outstanding idea! With any luck, it may also help them to appreciate the sacrifice made by so many. Paul J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteWolf Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 May be a good idea, but my worry would be the lack of respect they would show to the job they are undertaking. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 18 November , 2006 Author Share Posted 18 November , 2006 but my worry would be the lack of respect they would show to the job they are undertaking. Put your worrries to one side. Offenders are well supervised when they are "out and about" in work groups. Maintenance of burial grounds is already undertaken quite often as a "community service" task,a lthough this seems to be a new new aprtnership between CWGC and the NPS. Paul's point is good one - a key point of the sentence is to try to reconnect the offender with a sense of respect for their community. It works a lot of the time, as I recollect. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 18 November , 2006 Share Posted 18 November , 2006 May be a good idea, but my worry would be the lack of respect they would show to the job they are undertaking. Andy One swallow does not a summer make, but about 8 years ago I was invited to look at some work being done by such a "chain gang" as Terry desribes them. The job they had been given was to clear paths to two war graves in the burial-ground of a derelict chapel. The burial-grown was about 7 feet deep in brambles. It looked like a green sea. The bramble-cover rose and fell over the graves but the graves themselves were completely hidden. The burial-ground was also on the side of a very steep slope so access was quite difficult. The four lads involved and one supervisor had spent the best part of a week locating the graves and cutting (there is no other word) paths to them. They were immensely proud of what they had done. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6th Shropshires Posted 19 November , 2006 Share Posted 19 November , 2006 They were immensely proud of what they had done. What a great way of getting people back on the right track also well as cleaning up the cemeteries. Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 19 November , 2006 Share Posted 19 November , 2006 Given the correct level of supervision, which from what I have read is actually happening, this is a good thing. It's a win, win, situation for all those involved. I applaud the initative and all those involved. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 19 November , 2006 Share Posted 19 November , 2006 One swallow does not a summer make, but about 8 years ago I was invited to look at some work being done by such a "chain gang" as Terry desribes them. The job they had been given was to clear paths to two war graves in the burial-ground of a derelict chapel. The burial-grown was about 7 feet deep in brambles. It looked like a green sea. The bramble-cover rose and fell over the graves but the graves themselves were completely hidden. The burial-ground was also on the side of a very steep slope so access was quite difficult. The four lads involved and one supervisor had spent the best part of a week locating the graves and cutting (there is no other word) paths to them. They were immensely proud of what they had done. Tom How ironic that this task compares with the environmental work that I and others of various ages do voluntarily and enjoy. As I revealed recently in another thread, one chore is removing eight months of bird deposits from artificial rafts. Sometimes we're joined by teams from big companies wanting to do their community bit. I sometimes wonder if passers-by think we're offenders on community service. In fact last week one woman came along who supervises youths on probation who also do work on that particular site. I think that "chain gangs" have a key role to play - they give most of the people on them exercise, a sense of achievement and, if members of the public express their thanks, a feeling of being appreciated. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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