Inmates finishing off work at the new WINS site.
The Wellington Information Neighbourhood Centre will be moving across the road thanks to inmates at the Wellington Correctional Centre who have renovated the building opposite in Swift Street under the Mobile Outreach Program.
They have worked on two other projects at the golf course and St Matthew’s Catholic School in Mudgee, and are now looking for more work in the area.
Local Mobile Outreach Project overseer Chris Petty said that while there were projects within the correctional centre to prepare inmates for their transition back into the community, the Mobile Outreach Program was the final stepping stone.
Wellington Correctional Centre security manager Scott Brideoake said there were a number of work projects on the books.
“Through Helen Dowling and Community Partnerships meetings, we have a number of programs within the Wellington shire that we are looking at,” he said.
“Over the last 12 months we have tried to continue to deliver a number of services to the community.”
Currently there is one Wellington Mobile Outreach crew and a Community Partnership group working with council.
One inmate said that being given the opportunity to go out and ‘give back’ to the community helped him to establish a work ethic and routine that he would later rely on.
“I want to thank Wellington for having us out working in the community, we want to keep working,” he said.
“It’s good to feel you have achieved something.
“Before, this place was nothing and now they have a backyard.”
Another inmate said that while all of the inmates were nervous at first about working in the community, the response from the public was encouraging.
Already he has been given a work offer by a potential employer who was impressed by the quality of his work.
“When we come out, it will be nerve wracking, but it will be a lot easier knowing that I can do it and what I am capable of,” he said.