Council celebrates partnership with ‘gifted’ women in local prison

Council has paid tribute to the “gifted women” incarcerated in prison who crafted the gifts that were handed to the Australia Day Awards winners in January.

LVRC Mayor Tanya Milligan and Southern Queensland Correctional Centre Prison Director, Nick Rowe thank the women prisoners at SQCC for their work. Photo: Supplied.

The Lockyer Valley Regional Council has paid tribute to the “gifted women” incarcerated in prison who crafted the gifts that were handed to the Australia Day Awards winners in January.

The awards winners were handed timber clocks and weather stations that were hand made by 10 of the women prisoners at the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.

Citizen of the Year Aubrey Kilah and Mayor Tanya Milligan. Photo: Hugh Suffell.

Mayor Tanya Milligan who presented the “amazing gifts” said they were well received and demonstrated the “great partnership” between the council and the women in the prison.

Southern Queensland Correctional Centre Prison Director Nick Rowe said the prisoners were engaged prior to Christmas to make the items.

They were responsible for drawing, designing, cutting the wood and making sure they were drilling the holes correctly.

Young Citizen of the Year 2021 Cameron Maizey. Photo: Hugh Suffell.

“This is all about giving back to the community and giving the women an opportunity to learn a new skill set and making them job-ready for release as part of their reintegration back into the community,” Mr Rowe said.

All women involved in the project are currently completing a Certificate II in Furniture Making.

Volunteer of the Year 2021 Irma Steffens with Mayor Tanya Milligan. Photo: Hugh Suffell.

The women had the opportunity to see how their works were received when they viewed a highlight video of the Awards Ceremony and were presented with photo montages of the recipients with their weather stations at a special thank you afternoon tea.

LVRC Mayor Tanya Milligan and Southern Queensland Correctional Centre Prison Director, Nick Rowe thank the women prisoners at SQCC for their work. Photo: Supplied.

“As a Council, we are constantly looking for opportunities to join forces with other businesses for the benefit of the wider community and this is a perfect example of that,” Cr Milligan said.

Originally published as Council celebrates partnership with ‘gifted’ women in local prison