The scheme gives people serving community orders a chance to make amends while bringing festive joy to families who need it most in London. The initiative took place last week and the presents will be donated to Drapers Hall youth club, Elephant and Castle, ahead of Christmas.
Glory Nwazili, a Community Payback supervisor and part of the initiative at Draper Hall, is encouraging jobseekers with a passion for helping others and contributing to the local community to explore a fulfilling new career in the Probation Service.
Last year, Community Payback contributed over five million hours of unpaid work, making a positive impact on local community projects nationwide. These projects included planting thousands of trees to create greener spaces, as well as cleaning up public areas by removing graffiti and collecting litter, helping to create more enjoyable environments for everyone.
In addition, at this time of year, Community Payback assists with wrapping Christmas gifts and preparing food bank donations for the local community.
Glory, 57, who helps to run the wrapping sessions, discusses the benefits of working in Community Payback: “Being in this role offers a great opportunity for people to be in amongst the community and give something back, as we have done with the Drapers Hall youth club. The job puts you in a position to empower, encourage and make a positive impact.”
Gary Brown, 58, has been a supervisor for 18 years, who among other tasks oversees site clean ups in public spaces, which are sometimes redecorated with Christmas decorations to help bring joy to local residents.
He says: “I originally had planned to be in the role for only three years, but being a Community Payback Supervisor has been a refreshing change. I am out at different sites, meeting different people and seeing offenders grow over their rehabilitative journey, fast forward to now and I’m still enjoying it. It will be likely be my last job before I retire.”
For information on becoming a Community Payback supervisor, visit How to apply – Prison and Probation Jobs.
