Toys put inmates to work for kids | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Inmates at Ngawha Prison are being kept busy restoring well-loved toys from Kerikeri's Toy Library.

More than 50 children's toys - including wooden ride-on toys, go-karts and doll's furniture - are getting an overhaul from prisoners working in the carpentry and paint workshops at the Northland Regional Corrections Facility, just outside Kaikohe.

Inmate employment area operations manager Don Robertson said the prisoners were grateful for the challenge, because it put their skills to use and complemented the qualifications they had gained in jail.

And it means the children using the toy library will soon have plenty of revamped toys to play with.

More than 100 men were trained at the prison each year in building and allied trades, automotive engineering, forestry, horticulture and painting through courses provided in partnership with NorthTec.

"We find that once prisoners become involved in working and learning, they get a sense of ownership and pride," Mr Robertson said. "They're less likely to re-offend."

A group of prisoners who had graduated from carpentry training have been sanding the toys, while another prisoner, a graduate of a pre-trade training course, will repaint them.

Kerikeri toy librarian Louise Ridgewell said the prisoners' work benefited the library and the community's children. "Some of the toys are from as far back as the 1960s, so they seriously need a going over. Many are beautiful and even handmade, but they're broken and have been left out in the rain and that sort of thing."

Most of the decision-making about how to refurbish the toys was being left to the prisoners, while Bay of Islands businesses have donated the paint. The restored toys are due to be returned next month.

Kerikeri Community Toy Library is a charity organisation based at the Procter Library on Cobham Rd, and is open on Tuesdays from 10am to 12.30pm. It also operates at the same hours on Saturdays, outside summer school holidays.

It works similarly to any library with people borrowing toys for a period of time then returning them.