Vocational Support Officer Colin at Bunbury Regional Prison crafted bespoke furniture for a Margaret River gallery for 23 years before joining the prison two years ago – and he hasn’t looked back.
“In the prison cabinet and woodwork shop I work with a team of prisoners who manufacture furniture for the prison system, other government agencies and not-for-profit organisations,” Colin said. “My role is to teach employability skills, how to work as a team, and the skills associated with the woodworking/cabinet-making manufacturing industry,” Colin said.
“In prison workshops, prisoners gain trade qualifications and certificated training within their area of interest. Many of the prisoners are already skilled tradesmen but despite this they are still prepared to learn – and I often learn from them, too.
“The prisoners take pride in their work and it increases their confidence and motivation to learn more. Some of them request to make personal items, like jewellery boxes and picture frames to give to family members.
“I have to supervise all their activities while they are in the workshop. But when appropriate I do allow them to learn by their mistakes – which is a bit like life.
“It’s rewarding work and I’d recommend anyone to consider applying to become a VSO. You’re a role model, you’re a teacher and at times you’re also a mentor and a support for the prisoners. They look up to you and gain satisfaction from learning and a good day’s work.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the suspension of the Section 95 work that approved prisoners close to release do in the community, Colin was one of a team of VSOs who supervised prisoners working on projects such as the refurbishment of the historic Nannup cemetery.
“We removed all the rotten fence posts along a 1km stretch and replaced them, repainted metal gates, repaired all the old metal bars on the graves and raked and cleaned the area,” he said.
“We also do maintenance work on all the police stations in the South West and have been working on some of the walking and mountain bike trails in the region. We are currently working on Nannup’s bike trail, which is going to be one of the best in the world. For this we’re building the metal frames in the prison for some of the trail’s board walks.
“The prisoners love to stand back and admire their work – and it gets a lot of admiration from the community too. People are very surprised and grateful for the contribution we make to the community and they often come out and thank the prisoners.
“Without the work of the s 95 prisoners, many of the small communities and their projects wouldn’t get done.”
While they wait for the s 95 program to get back up and running, Colin and his team of prisoners have been painting and carrying out maintenance work on the prison’s 12 pre-release unit houses. This is where prisoners learn to do their own cooking and budget to buy their own provisions in preparation for their eventual release.
Their next job is to put new skirting boards in all the houses.
“Some of them would become disillusioned and very bored if they didn’t have this work to keep them occupied,” Colin said.
