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Springboard Community Works has dramatically reduced youth crime to almost negligible levels in Warkworth and surrounding areas, according to John Williams, the youth aid officer for Warkworth Police.
Snr Constable Williams made the remarks at a special dinner in Snells Beach for Springboard youth mentors and other volunteers to mark National Volunteer Week. He described coming to Warkworth 11 years ago, following a stint as a youth court prosecutor in Auckland.
He said at the time he was thoroughly disillusioned.
“I felt sick of the whole system. I didn’t feel it was working,” he told the dinner guests.
He recalled how youth crime in Warkworth was bad at the time. On one occasion, he dealt with 10 young people from Warkworth in court on the same day. But an alternative education programme being run by Springboard founder Gary Diprose left him deeply impressed. Although Gary was dealing with some of the worst kids who had been kicked out of school, they were
not committing crimes.
“There was a good relationship with these kids and there was a respect there,” he said.
Snr Constable Williams talked to Gary about widening the scope of the programme to include all troubled youth and their families, and Springboard Community Works was born.
“And I can tell you right now, it’s working. I’ve basically run out of youth offenders,” he said.
This stood in sharp contrast to other areas, such as South Auckland and West Auckland, where youth crime is rampant.
Snr Constable Williams puts the success down to the fact that Springboard is a community initiative.
“The government can’t fix the problem, the police can’t fix it; it has to be community-driven,” he said.
“I’m very proud to be part of Springboard, and I think you guys should be too,” he told the volunteers.
Springboard Community Trust is currently looking for more volunteer mentors. To find out more, come along to an information night at the Bridgehouse, Warkworth, on Monday, July 9 at 7.30pm.
