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COMMUNITY SERVICE PRGRAMME COMMENDED
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Release issued: 12th October 2005 |
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The Tank Museum has won a major award for its "outstanding contribution to working with young offenders".
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In partnership with The Community Service Unit, Weymouth College and the Education, Training and Employment Department, The Tank Museum was honoured at The Dorset Justice Awards.
David Willey , Museum Curator, said; "We have been working with the Community Service Unit for almost four years now, and the programme has developed to benefit us, The Community Service Unit and the offenders we host."
Offenders on the programme are mainly aged 16 to 24, and as many were excluded from school before sitting their GCSE's, they are unlikely to have any formal academic qualifications and are likely to be unemployed.
Mike Mathews of Dorset Probation Service said; "The main aim of the project is to increase the employability of offenders on Community Punishment Orders by achieving Level 2 in literacy and numeracy (equivalent to a grade C at GCSE), and allowing them to gain an engineering qualification at the same time.
"The Museum has been providing engineering facilities and space in the Archive and Reference Library for the weekly basic skills sessions. With teaching staff provided by Weymouth College, offenders also gain experience and knowledge of an orderly and safe workplace. This promotes the work ethic and has proved valuable in improving their chances of finding a job on completion of the sentence.
"In return," says Mike, "The Museum has assistance in keeping the vehicles and exhibits clean, and others can be renovated for use in live demonstrations.
"This is a punishment that is changing lives," added Mike. "One offender was employed for the first time in 14 years having completed his programme at The Tank Museum. Offenders are achieving things here that they have not had the motivation to do before; like qualifications. Many offenders had been told they were `thick` and not to bother turning up for their GCSE's.
"One such offender cried when presented with his Level 2 Numeracy Certificate. It was the first certificate he had ever earned; and he had achieved something he was told he would never get." |
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![[image] Representatives from the partnership collect their award](images/new-images/commservice.jpg)
Representatives from the partnership collect their award: (From left) Beth Fox, Mike Mathews and Mike Thomas from Dorset Probation Service, David Willey (The Tank Museum), Martin Baker (Chief Constable, Dorset Police), Mike Hayton (The Tank Museum), Allan Grinter (Dorset Probation Service), and Cathy Breward (Weymouth College)
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