Community Payback building opens in Stranraer

Unpaid work for Community Payback Orders has a new home in Stranraer. Councillor Andy Ferguson Chair of the Social Work Committee opened the new building officially on Friday 29 June at 2pm.

Visitors were given a tour of the building and were able to see the work being done first hand. Displays showed the breadth of the work carried out by people with Community Payback Orders. The unpaid work is organised by our Council’s Criminal Justice Social Work service. Invited guests were also shown a film detailing work carried out and recipients of the work from community payback expressing their gratitude

Councillor Ferguson said, “The old building was revealed as not up to the job back in 2008, so our Council began work to identify funding and a suitable site for a new facility. The result of this work is an excellent building which is modern and entirely suitable for the purpose, allowing us to fulfill our responsibilities to the community. Sending people to prison for short sentences is not always best for victims, offenders or their communities. Local services are now ready to follow the route of restriction, rehabilitation, reparation and re-integration for those on Community Payback Orders. This includes a range of unpaid work activity in the community and at the new work shops for this unpaid work activity.”

Director of Social Work Services, John Alexander, said, “The new building has been available for Criminal Justice Social Work in recent weeks. Unpaid work projects allow offenders to make pay back to their communities, working hours that would cost communities thousands of pounds, e.g. beach cleans and pathway maintenance. Other requirements ensure that there will be regular meetings with those subject to orders, linking with other key services in relation to housing, employment and substance misuse and the delivery of change programmes that address a range of offence types. The programmes include a new approach to domestic abuse that includes work with victims and their families.”

The Blackparks building has been renovated to a high standard with a small joinery workshop where items such as planters and garden furniture will be made and assembled for distribution to, for example, community gardens. There is a working laundry where textiles will be washed, repaired and made into packs for distribution to people getting new tenancies through homeless services.

A training kitchen and an extensive garden area will allow the teaching of horticulture. This will be followed with cookery lessons and the distribution of excess produce to local agencies. Service users will learn skills which could lead to employment in the future. The service hopes to make links with local colleges and further education providers to enable service users to make full use of the skills that they have acquired.

The building also has a store and preparation area for timber in respect of the “Winter Warmth project” which has been running successfully for 10 years across the region. Donated wood is processed and supplied to over 400 older people across Dumfries and Galloway. The unpaid work team also is involved in cutting popular walkways in the area and beach clearing and coastal path maintenance. Other projects include litter picking in the towns and villages of the area, community garden and allotment landscaping and maintenance and painting of village and community halls. A lot of work has been carried out during school holidays to develop school eco gardens.