Community Payback Comes To Denham

Residents of St Marys Road in Denham have had their garages and surrounding area smartened up by supervised young offenders over the last few weeks.

Buckinghamshire Youth Offending Service, London and Quadrant Housing and South Bucks District Council’s Community Safety Team worked together with a number of volunteers to organise this local reparation project.

Reparation is a compulsory element of Referral Orders which are primarily given to young people who are appearing in Court for the first time and pleading guilty to an offence. Reparation requires the young person to repair the harm caused by their offending, either directly to the victim (this can involve victim/offender mediation if both parties agree) or indirectly to the community. Examples of this might be cleaning up graffiti or undertaking community work. The order is overseen by a Youth Offending Service support worker or volunteer.

This project involved the refurbishment of garages in St Mary’s Road Denham which were in poor condition and covered in overgrown vegetation together with the area looking generally untidy. Young offenders have been working at this site under supervision from Bucks Youth Offending Service volunteers every Saturday morning for the past two months to dramatically improve its appearance.

South Bucks District Councillor Shorne Tilbey, Portfolio Holder for Community says, “The young offenders have done a good and useful job here. They have repaired some of the harm caused by their offence to the community by making the area more attractive. I hope more projects of this nature can be undertaken in South Bucks.”

Chris Bunce, Buckinghamshire Youth Offending Service Restorative Justice and Volunteer co-ordinator says, “Reparation is designed to help young offenders understand the consequences of their offending and take responsibility for their behaviour. We have certainly seen a positive change in offending behaviour following reparation projects across the county. ”

If you would like to volunteer to work for the Buckinghamshire Youth Offending Service as a Community Panel Member, Support Worker or Appropriate Adult please contact Chris Bunce, Restorative Justice and Volunteer co-ordinator on 01494 463443 or 01296 434624.

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