The Community Service Unit Team (CSU), Dorset Probation Area
Scheme of special merit award 2007
A client’s experience
‘Mick’ had been unemployed for 14 years. He was 44 years old and married. He was sentenced to a 120-hour community punishment order for assault and criminal damage.
During his induction process it was established that he needed to brush up on his literacy and numeracy skills, cognitive thinking skills and vocational skills learning. The Tank Museum at Bovington Camp
was identified as an ideal placement. He was trained in engineering in
the morning and basic skills in the afternoon.
Through the course he achieved Level 2 in both literacy and numeracy
(the equivalent to GCSE grade 3) and an engineering certificate from
Weymouth College. He worked extremely well during his order and had no unacceptable absences. He has been in work ever since.
Service provider
The CSU Team is made up of the Tank Museum at Bovington Camp; Weymouth College; the education, training and employment department (ETE) (see glossary) at Dorset probation service; and the community service unit at Wareham.
Origins of the programme and funding
The CSU has been involved with the Tank Museum since 2003. The Tank Museum needed help to clean and maintain its exhibits but had no funds to employ people, so the two teamed up.Funding has been secured through the Learning and Skills Council.
Target group
The project targets people sentenced to community punishment orders with a UWO element. They are mainly aged 16 to 24 years. Many had been excluded from school before sitting their GCSEs. There is a minimum requirement of 100 hours UWO as the engineering module takes 13 weeks to complete. Also clients must not hold GCSE grade 3 in Maths and English.
What does the programme do?
The aim of the programme is to increase the employability and reduce reoffending by helping clients to attain Level 2 awards in literacy and numeracy and an engineering
qualification. This project uses different partners to provide
each component of the scheme. The Tank Museum offers engineering facilities and training to help offenders improve their life chances and employment opportunities. Weymouth College focuses on numeracy and literacy tuition. Two basic skills and one engineering tutor teach at the Tank Museum.
An initial on-screen assessment is undertaken by
Weymouth College on those identified for the scheme.
This assesses their current level of attainment and potential to progress. Selection for the scheme depends on this, an
interview with their probation officer and a desire to obtain an engineering qualification.
Clients take part on the programme for seven hours per day, one day per week, in a group of no more than eight people. Every Wednesday clients attend the Tank Museum under the supervision of a probation supervisor, a workshop manager and two tutors from Weymouth College. The working environment aims to convey a good work ethic coupled with the knowledge and understanding of an orderly and safe workplace.
The group carries out engineering activities on some of the museum’s exhibits through refurbishment of tanks, armoured cars and other vehicles. It involves a mixture of hands-on vocational learning in engineering, working in the workshop in the mornings on two-hour sessions, and classroom tuition on basic skills in the afternoons, in the Tank Museum library.
A report is written by the probation supervisor after each session, highlighting what clients have achieved during the session. These reports are sent back to the CSU. Clients’ progress is ultimately measured by examinations entered and results gained at the end of the UWOs.
Client numbers
The CSU supervises approximately 350 offenders per week who are carrying out UWOs of between 40 and 300 hours. Over the last year, CSU has supervised over 80,000
unpaid work hours, which have benefited communities
across Dorset.
Staffing
The team which oversees the project includes:
• CS unit manager;
• CS deputy manager;
• CS supervisor;
• Curator – the Tank Museum;
• Workshop manager – the Tank Museum;
• Weymouth College learning manager;
• ETE manager; and
Evaluation and effectiveness
The CSU measures the success of the scheme through
service users’ attainment of qualifications. Since 2003, clients have gained 15 engineering qualifications and 137 literacy and numeracy qualifications, of which 50 were at Level 2.
Only one person out of the 137 has been reconvicted of another offence. Several clients have gained employment as a result of their experience at the Tank Museum.
Benefits of the scheme
Mike Mathews, deputy unit manager at Dorset Probation Area told the Howard League for Penal Reform:
The Tank Museum, Weymouth College and the Dorset Probation Service have given offenders the opportunity to achieve commercially recognised awards in engineering, English and maths. The partnership
has been of great benefit to the museum in securing them 1,800 hours of free labour. Offenders have been benefiting from these experiences
and tuition from Weymouth College, which is allowing some to gain
employment for the first time in years. In return, the museum has
assistance in keeping the vehicles and exhibits clean, and others can be renovated for use in live demonstrations.
This scheme builds service users’ self-esteem by helping them to achieve something which many of them have never
had before – a qualification. Some of them had been told
they were ‘thick’ at school and not to bother turning up to sit the exams. This was the case for one service user who cried when he was presented with his Level 2 numeracy
certificate. It was the first certificate he had ever had in his
life. He had achieved something he was told he would never ever get.
Contact details:
Mike Matthews Deputy ManagerThe Community Service Unit 19 Sandford Lane
Wareham BH20 4JH Tel: 01929 556513
