Community Payback is a tough and visible consequence for people who have committed a crime.
Offenders can be sentenced by the courts to carry out up to 300 hours unpaid work for the community and in Hertfordshire, more than 100,000 hours of Community Payback are completed every year by offenders on a community sentence.
This equates to approximately £500,000 of free labour (based on minimum wage) provided to local communities, as offenders pay back for the crimes they have committed.
Community Payback projects range from litter-removal to clearing dense undergrowth and environmental projects through repairing and redecorating community centres to removing graffiti. Offenders usually work as part of a team, monitored by a supervisor, and will work all day with short breaks, although there are some opportunities for individual placements.
We want your ideas
If you have an idea for a Community Payback project, we want to hear it. Ideally we are looking for large scale projects, providing a mix of indoor and outdoor work for several weeks, but as a minimum the project should provide enough work for eight people working a full day.
To be considered your project must meet the following criteria:
» It must involve hard manual labour that benefits the local community
» It must not take paid work away from others and no-one must make a profit from the work
» It must be challenging and demanding, worthwhile and constructive
» Offenders must be seen to be putting something back into the community by wearing their high-visibility Community Payback jackets
Hertfordshire Probation's Community Payback team will assess the project for suitability and for health and safety implications. Toilet and handwashing facilities will need to be available.
Once the work has been completed, a plaque will be displayed with the Community Payback logo, if appropriate. This will indicate where offenders have positively contributed to improving a neighbourhood.
Nominating a project
Anyone can nominate a project, so, if you are an individual, member of a club, community group, faith group or voluntary organisation and have a project that fits the criteria above, please use this
online suggestion formOr call our Headquarters on 01992 504444 and ask for the Community Payback project manager for your area.
Or you can email
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Please include the following details:
About you and your organisation
» Your name and organisation (if applicable)
» Your address, including postcode
» Your telepone number and email address
The project
» Project name
» Location of project
» A brief description of the work you want done
» When you would like the work to start
