Noticing low participation at regularly scheduled charity events held at Wooroloo, some of the men in care developed a plan to encourage prisoners to come together and give them a sense of purpose.
“We thought about giving back to the community,” one of the prisoners said. “We got a group of us together that meets every week, and it gets a lot more traction because it’s prisoner led.”
Fundraising events soon saw a significant boost in prisoner involvement – and donations.
“The impact on the men has been eye opening,” Assistant Superintendent, Offender Services Michelle Osborne said. “It’s created a real sense of community and strong moral support.”
Wooroloo had already formed a partnership with Telethon at the 2024 Gidgegannup Show, where a striking steel eagle sculpture created by a prisoner swooped the People’s Choice award, the artist donating the $500 prize to the iconic charity.
That effort, also supported by prize money from other Wooroloo prisoner competition entries, was recognised by Telethon with a Perth Mint gold plated medallion, inspiring the newly formed Men’s Shed to follow up with a prison bake-off and barbecue which raised $1,782.
The prisoners soon started looking for new places to raise money – quickly identifying the potential to increase the number of collection bins for empty cans around the facility, and a system to collect every 10 cents with a “leave no can behind” motto.
“We did our sums and worked out we could raise large donations from the cans, and the men were committed to getting those into some pretty high numbers,” Asst Supt Osborne said.
That venture collected more than 5,000 cans, with prisoners holding a virtual “whip around” just this week to boost the tally by $1,116 ahead of the weekend’s Telethon event.
“This is just going to get bigger and bigger,” Asst Supt Osbourne said. “It’s given the men a real feeling of hope and purpose.”
“It makes them feel good to be involved and gives them self-worth,” one prisoner agreed. “We all feel guilty about things we’ve done, and this is a way to give back to the community.”
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