Offenders praised after clearing Blackburn church of ice for funeral

A service at the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Church for an 81-year-old Eucharistic Minister was in jeopardy last Friday because of treacherous conditions in the grounds.

But Lancashire Probation Service sent two teams of Community Payback offenders at short notice to clear snow and ice from the carpark.

Father Edmund Willoughby said: “It was like a skating rink and with the funeral looming they came at very short notice and did an excellent job.

“It would have been very sad to have the funeral elsewhere.

“They’re not really criminals, they’re strapping young lads doing a good deed, something very constructive.”

After problems with graffiti last year, church member Myra Walmsley arranged for a community payback team to clean up the grounds.

They hope to use the scheme again in the future for improvement works.

She said: “I rang on Wednesday to explain the problem and within an hour probation rang back to say they could help.

“It certainly fits in with our preachings. We are all about forgiveness.

"They were very respectful and you can see that people doing wrong are paying the community back.

“I was delighted and proud of the effort demonstrated in those difficult conditions.

"Thanks to them, we managed to hold the funeral. It meant a lot to us.”

The 12 offenders, using grit provided by the church, worked to clear roads and made space for parking – ensuring safe access to the church and allowing the funeral to proceed as planned.

Paul Roberts, a Community Payback supervisor who was working on the day, was proud of what everyone accomplished.

He said: “There was a lot of enthusiasm and support at the church.

"The public praised the offenders for their help and the offenders took pride in doing a job that meant so much to people.

"I feel we made a real difference.”

Last year, a total of more than 30,000 hours were worked unpaid across Blackburn by offenders for the benefit of local people and neighbourhoods.