DEDICATED community members got stuck in at the weekend and painted the Umbilo SAPS charge office making it a brighter, better place.
The initiative, which was started by Heather Rorick and her team of volunteers from Bulwer Community Safety Forum, has been a long time coming, and Heather was pleased to recently get the go-ahead to paint the charge office.
“The idea of painting the community service centre came up a few years ago when I was helping at the Victim Support Centre and had to deal with victims coming into the police station and having to come into the community centre which was very drab and unwelcoming, in fact almost depressing. We wanted to make a difference to the place where many victims have to go spend time reporting a crime. We wanted them to be able to go into a cleaner charge office and a place where we feel proud to have visitors from other areas go when they need to report a crime or have become a victim of a crime,” said Heather.
Heather and volunteers Louise Stehouwer, Rhoda Twigg, Michelle Murphy, Louie Geldenhuys, Juscard Mihigo, Judi Wells, Dylan Schnittker, Jody Deysel, Jo and Lee Ludik, Errol Eyden, Maria Nortje-Van Niekerk and Tamara Wentze, prepped the walls in the charge office, and started painting it a bright and cheery yellow.
The end product is a charge office which is a more pleasant place to wok in. “We now have a community police station which is clean and fresh. The police members were so happy and grateful, and said it made a huge difference for them at work,” she said.
Heather thanked the sponsors Wardkiss Paint and Hardware in Sydney Road for paint and painting material, UTB Fasteners, who gave a donation towards materials and items for painting, Bakers DIY for their discount on items and Lincoln Rowe for a donation towards materials. She also thanked the volunteers for their time and effort, and for donating out of their own pockets to make this a reality.
“We hope that this change in the community service centre will help and encourage members of the SAPS to feel more proactive towards helping the community who seek their help and assistance in the future,” she said.
