Young offenders have been helping raising cash for the RNIB as part of their “community payback”.
They have been working to distribute RNIB ‘Sooty’ collection boxes to businesses throughout Caerphilly County Borough.
They’ve also spent some of their weekends taking part in charity collections, under the supervision of a Youth Offending Service Officer, and have managed to raise £2,000.
Michaela Rogers, operational manager at the Youth Offending Service said: “Having a community reparation hours imposed upon an offender means that they must carry out unpaid work in their community, which can include tasks that benefit local people and their neighbourhoods.
“Not only are reparation hours intended as a punishment to the young person, they are also intended to help the young person understand the impact that their offending behaviour had on the local community, and help change their behaviour for the better.
“The young people were really keen to do something positive that would really benefit the community as part of their reparation work. They have worked extremely hard to raise so much money for such a worthy cause.”
Councillor Lyn Ackerman, cabinet member for the environment said: “I am full of praise for the local Youth Offending Service for using community reparation as a means of engaging young people in charity work.
“In addition to raising significant funds for such a good cause, the project also helps provide the youngsters with so many important life skills such as citizenship.”
For more information about the Youth Offending Service call 01495 235 623.