A Garden of Remembrance will be looking it’s best this Remembrance Day thanks to a clean-up by people who were subject to the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone’s Immediate Justice programme.
Five young people who were caught committing anti-social behaviour on the grounds of St Lawrence Church in Towcester and around the local area, were issued five hours each of reparative work to help repair the harm they have caused to the community. They spent that working in the garden at St Lawrence.
The Immediate Justice programme provides an alternative to prosecution for people who have committed lower-level offences such as criminal damage, causing a public nuisance or being drunk and disorderly.
Over five days, the young people, aged between 15 and 17, transformed the garden by weeding, relaying slabs and bark, clearing footpaths and chopping back hedges.
It was then decorated ready for the upcoming Remembrance Day celebrations with members of the Royal British Legion and the Women’s Institute adding the newly repainted boards and a poppy cascade.
The garden was first built in 2018 to celebrate the centenary of the end of the First World War and is usually kept maintained by local volunteers from across the community.
Rev’d Paula Challen, Rector at St Lawrence Church (pictured below) said that the Immediate Justice scheme helps to encourage positive change in young people.
She said: “The restorative work that the Immediate Justice programme does is great at bringing about positive change in the lives of the people using the programme, which is something we wholehearted support at St Lawrence.
“The area is all about the health of the soul and giving people a place to reflect and having it looking the way it does now really helps that.”
The garden isn’t just utilised for Remembrance events, it is a focal point throughout the year for the Church – including becoming a nativity scene for their Christmas celebrations.
“As a church reliant on volunteers, having the help of young people taking part in the immediate justice programme to restore what is such a special place, has been brilliant.”
Police officers and PCSOs can refer offenders to the programme, which has recently began accepting referrals of young people, aged 12-18.
Neighbourhood Policing Sargent Lorna Clarke of Northamptonshire Police (pictured above) made the referral to the Immediate Justice programme and has been pleased with the results.
She said: “We have been working with St Lawrence Church for a while and when we learnt of the issues they were having with anti-social behaviour, a referral to the Immediate Justice programme seemed a good fit.
“It has been really beneficial for the young people to be able to take some ownership for their actions and be able to give back in this way has been really positive.”
Over one hundred people have now taken part in the programme since its inception at the beginning of the year, completing over 500 hours of work.
Danielle Stone believes the success of the scheme reinforces how affected people are by anti-social behaviour.
Danielle said: “In every town I go to people tell me that anti-social behaviour is a problem. People want to see those who have committed crimes, pay for them.
“It’s great to see that people taking part in this scheme have helped to repair some of the harm they have caused to communities by helping to restore a fantastic community asset like the garden of St Lawrence’s Church.”
The Immediate Justice scheme is a pilot project and the Commissioner and her team are looking at how this important work can be taken forward in the longer term.
