Offenders' care kits help patients, draw community together

The team is creating special care bags, filled with essential toiletries for patients.

According to senior community corrections officer Paul Webster, the project was the brainchild of one of the offenders.

"They wondered how they could give back to some of the most vulnerable in our community," Mr Webster said.

So the light duties project team set about making the special care bags for patients in emergency.

"We buy rolls of material, sew them into bags, make a hem and put in a drawstring ... they are then hand-painted with colours and characters, such as birds and underwater animals, and include positive messages such as, 'if toucan, you can' and 'sea life and grab it'," Mr Webster said.

Once the bags are designed and stitched up, they are filled with goods such as shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, toothpaste, deodorant and other items, and handed over to emergency department staff for patients.

Armidale Servies Motel donated many of the personal hygiene products, while nail brushes were donated by Armidale Adventist Church.

The team has so far created and handed over 33 bags and has 141 more on the way.

Bruce Cohen, Aboriginal liaison officer at the hospital, said patients arrived at emergency often unprepared, with no time to pack a bag.

"The bags give dignity back to a patient," Mr Cohen said.

"Especially those from remote areas, who have had to quickly come to hospital here and have had neither the time nor the resources to pack essential items."

It has also flicked the creative switch for many of the offenders, such as John and Carolyn (not their real names).

John said, "I enjoyed art at school and this has allowed me to be creative again."

Carolyn's aunt is an artist and is a role model for Carolyn, whose designs for the bags are mainly Indigenous in nature.

"This has opened doors for me to explore more artistic avenues," Carolyn said.

The project also helped Ann Writer, a volunteer who jumped on board after hearing about it at Armidale War Memorial Library.

"I was very shy before I volunteered here but helping the team and showing them how to sew has really given me confidence," she said.

The scheme has proved such a success, the offenders are now making gym and pencil bags for several Armidale schools, as well as making shopping bags for Armidale Neighbourhood Centre.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Community Corrections Ellen McCarroll said the project was a good example of the inspiring ideas borne from those who had done the wrong thing, shifted gears for the better and gave back to the community.

"Our job extends into the community and beyond - Community Corrections teams around NSW work with tens of thousands of people who are committed to keeping their lives on track, whether they've received a community-based sentence, or been released following a custodial sentence," Ms McCarroll said.

"The Armidale crew are doing a fantastic job at not only maintaining positive, healthy lives but also doing it while helping others who are in a very fragile and vulnerable state."