An interesting afternoon...

I had an interesting afternoon.

First of all I paid a visit to the Council's Community Service Team to find out more about their work. This visit was very informative, and included a trip to Gourock to meet a group of offenders who were cutting back undergrowth in Fletcher Avenue.

It was good to hear about some of the ways in which Community Service is benefiting both individuals and groups within the community, and at the same time providing the opportunity for offenders to make reparation for their offences, as well as learning new skills.

It certainly doesn't appear to be the easy option that some people think it is. Indeed a couple of the offenders I spoke to said they would rather have went to prison!

Later in the afternoon I had the opportunity to see Renfrewshire Council's new Youth Gym Bus, which , I am told , is the first of its kind in the UK.

It is what the name suggests: a mobile gym that will be used as part of Renfrewshire's youth diversion strategy, visiting hot spot areas, along with other services, to try and encourage young people to do something positive with their time.

It is certainly an interesting initiative which we may replicate in Inverclyde if it proves to be a success, and we can find the money to pay for it.