YOUNG offenders are being taught woodwork as part of a new community service scheme. North Yorkshire’s Youth Justice Service has launched a new initiative to help rehabilitate young people who have been given community sentences, with a new mobile workspace to teach them vocational skills. Youths between ten and 17 who have been given community sentences by the courts in Selby, Scarborough and Ryedale can learn new skills at the pop-up workshop, which can be set up in a garden or a church hall and features a foldable workbench, a battery drill, saws, hand tools and dustsheets, which can be packed into the boot of a car and taken to the young people. Equipment was donated by B&Q in Scarborough, while three Rotary clubs of Scarborough and Whitby donated money to get the project off the ground. Ed Horwood, from the Youth Justice Service, said they devised the project after volunteers with Littlebeck and Whitby Men’s Shed initiatives and North Yorkshire Men’s Shed Ambassador Graham Storer helped one young person create bird boxes for Dalby Forest and a local charity shop, which had been requested by the victims of his offence. Ed said: “I was greatly impressed and inspired by the Men’s Sheds concept. "It struck me that having our own, easily transportable set of resources would allow a pop-up workshop to be created wherever and whenever we wanted it – be it in a room within a community building, a church hall, at young people’s own homes, and outside spaces.” The young people use pallets and reclaimed wood to create simple woodworking projects, including bird boxes, bat boxes and planters, which can be passed to charities to sell, or given to organisations that benefit wildlife. The Rotary Club of Whitby and District, The Rotary Club of Scarborough Cavaliers, and The Rotary Club of Scarborough between them provided £225 for the project, and that figure was matched through donations of tools and equipment by B&Q Scarborough. Branch manager Charlie Macleod said: “The success that has come from the project so far suggests it’s a very worthwhile initiative. If we can turn people around then they can contribute to the community. It also involves skills that can instil pride. If we can instil pride back into these young people, that would definitely help prevent them reoffending.” Tony Stevens, the President of the Rotary Club of Scarborough Cavaliers, said: “We are delighted that three local Rotary Clubs came together to help fund the buying of necessary tools for the pop-up workshop in order to engage youngsters in the Youth Justice system. We feel this is a very worthwhile cause and wish this project every success in the future.” Cllr Janet Sanderson said: “These workshops are equipping young people with vocational skills which will stay with them for life and which will also bring benefit to local communities.”
B&Q Scarborough has donated equipment for a mobile workspace that aims to teach young offenders vocational skills. Photograph: