But the new Wigan and Leigh Probation Service Newsletter, aimed at judges and magistrates, tells a different story. It contains details of just some of the successful programmes offenders have contributed to throughout the Borough - and the hard labour involved. After an induction and risk assessment at the Probation Service in Atherton, offenders will do their 'community service' on a variety of programmes around the Borough. The Probation Service deals with up to 150 offenders per week and the chances are some of them will be working on a community service programme near you. They could be cleaning graffiti and chewing gum in one of the Borough's town centres, clearing rubbish from wasteland, working in the community service workshop, maintaining sports pitches, working on school and church grounds, or repairing vandalism to buildings and fences.
Offenders can be of any age and gender, and come from all walks of life.
Most of them are male, aged between 18 and 24, and will be sentenced to 140 hours community service. The Community Service Team deals with 600 offenders per year and works closely with Wigan Council's Community Risk Management team, who identify grot-spots and other areas in need of attention. Through the Community Risk Management team they are also are involved with other crime reduction initiatives, such as delivering relevant crime prevention information to households in targeted areas. Community service is sometimes seen as a soft option to a custodial sentence, but that's not the case. In fact, some offenders have told me they would rather be in prison because community service involves so much hard work.