18 February 2019
Prisoners have designed bespoke picnic tables for wheelchair users and restored cast-iron brackets for lampposts that line St Brelade’s Bay as part of ongoing projects to benefit the community.
The picnic tables were designed for the newly refurbished outdoor area at Les Amis, a charity that supports islanders with learning disabilities.
Les Amis Head of Support Services, Jason Loveless, said: “The team at HM Prison La Moye did a fantastic job designing these bespoke, wheelchair-accessible picnic tables. They will not only be used by the people we support at Les Amis, but also by those who attend Le Geyt Day Services.
“The tables are specially designed to allow four wheelchairs users and four of their support workers to sit together and enjoy a picnic or barbecue. The aim of the refurbishment project was very much about inclusion and we couldn’t have done it without the support and input from the prison service.”
Prisoners are also in the middle of restoring the cast-iron brackets that sit at the top of lampposts along St Brelade’s Bay. A total of 40 brackets out of roughly 100 have so far been stripped and repainted to their former glory.
Chris Wilson, Vocational Training Manager at the States of Jersey Prison Service, said: “Restorative justice activities, like these, are hugely beneficial to both the community and prisoners. It is a way forward to help guide many offenders into regaining their place within society by putting something back into the local community. Projects such as these also accommodate the varying skills levels among prisoners.”
Prison Governor, Nick Cameron, added: “These projects are further examples of prisoners doing something positive to pay back the community.”
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