Maltby is undergoing a ‘spring clean’ as part of an initiative by the Probation Service to support the annual Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

The Community Payback Scheme is delivering a project in and around Maltby to clean up the litter in residential areas and Coronation Park.

During a walkabout last week between Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, members of the Neighbourhood Policing Team and councillors from Maltby Town Council, there were a notable number of areas that were blighted by litter.

Dr Billings said: “When I visited Maltby I was astounded at the amount of litter that had been dropped that was making the streets and the park, which was full of families and young children, look unsightly.

“I had been asked to lend my support to the Community Payback Spring Clean over the next couple of weeks and when my office contacted them they were only too happy to involve Maltby within their programme of work. I visited during their first day and they had already made a noticeable difference to the park, having collected over a dozen bags in their first few hours.

“I am pleased to support this scheme which not only provides hours of community work for offenders to give back to communities, but also delivers educational support and advice which helps to get their lives back on track.”

Community Payback is a scheme run by the Probation Service to supervise people on probation that have been sentenced to between 40 to 300 hours of community service to make reparation to local areas for the harms caused by their crimes. Offenders who are sentenced to community work can also undertake up to 30 per cent of their sentence in educational support and training.

Julie Odusanya, Head of Barnsley and Rotherham Probation Delivery Unit, said: “This is a wonderful sentencing option available to the Courts. It provides local people who are subject to an Unpaid Work Requirement the opportunity to give back to the community.

“It’s good to see the team being so responsive to local needs despite the restrictions the team are still working with due to the impact of the pandemic.”

The three-day project in Maltby will see a group of individuals working to give back to the community. They are clearing litter from Coronation Park and from surrounding streets.

Keep Britain Tidy is running the Great British Spring Clean between March 25 and April 10. This is an annual campaign which encourages communities to participate in litter picks of their local area.

Community Payback is focusing a full week of activities on around 20 areas of South Yorkshire to spruce up local areas and improve public spaces during the dedicated Community Payback Spring Clean week.

If your community can offer projects through the scheme, please contact Community Payback. They are always looking for schemes where offenders can undertake unpaid work in communities. Examples of projects include:

• Removing graffiti
• Clearing wasteland
• Decorating public places and buildings, such as a community centre

The work must be of benefit to the local community, not take paid work away from others and must not make a profit for anyone.

If you have any schemes you would like to nominate, please email details, including the name pf the project or organisation, where the work would take place, a short description of the work and your contact details to: [email protected]

For more details visit: www.gov.uk/nominate-community-payback-project