The Department of Corrections Central Region has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sunfruit Orchards which will see a minimum of 10 placements per year for prisoners involved in the Release to Work (RtW) initiative and offenders serving sentences in the community.

Sunfruit Orchards, based in the Waikato and Hawke's Bay, has been working with the Department for a number of years using the RtW scheme which sees electronically monitored low-minimum risk prisoners working in roles such as thinning, pruning and fruit picking.

Sunfruit Orchards' managing director John Altham and Waikeria Prison director Kevin Smith.

The MoU will see this partnership progress to offering jobs to offenders serving sentences in the community as well.

Sunfruit Orchards' managing director John Altham sees the company's involvement with Corrections as a way to give back to the local community.

'Sunfruit is a family company and as such we try to participate in our community as much as we can. The employment of RtW offenders with an aim to help offenders rehabilitate into our communities as contributors has been a mutually beneficial programme for both the offender but also for Sunfruit.

'A number, on release, have become full-time permanent staff working in our orchards. We applaud Corrections' far- sighted view in enabling this programme to work and we also appreciate Corrections' support in providing work-ready candidates for us.”

The MoU was signed at Waikeria Prison Monday 16 May by John and Prison Director Kevin Smith.

Kevin is pleased to see the relationship with Sunfruit Orchards develop.

'We are working very hard to reduce re-offending and it's not something we can do alone. In order for us to create safer communities, where people are able to turn their lives around and make a positive contribution, we need progressive employers like Sunfruit Orchards which are willing to give people a second chance.”

Research shows that employment can reduce the risk of reoffending, says Kevin.

'When you give someone a job, you're not just helping them, but you're helping their whānau and their community too.

'You're giving them that sense of worth, of pride, and of stability. You're making it that much easier for them to make good decisions and find the support they might need.”

Agreements such as this are directly linked to the work Corrections is undertaking to ensure prisoners and offenders serving sentences in the community are ‘work-ready.'