TWO charities are the latest to receive a cash bonus courtesy of North Ayrshire’s Unpaid Work team.

The team is made up of those serving a Community Payback Order (CPO) – a community-based sentence imposed by courts to give something back to the community.

And the Unpaid Work team in North Ayrshire were delighted to hand over £500 to both Alzheimer Scotland and the Warrior Mum project in Kilwinning after recent endeavours.

Unpaid Work operate a market garden where service users grow flowers and vegetables.

They also have a workshop where they build garden furniture. They were then able to sell these to the general public at sale of work events.

Councillor Robert Foster, cabinet member for health and social care, said: “Our Unpaid Work team are doing a fantastic job and it’s only right that the good work carried out by the service users is highlighted.

“Monies raised by them is going back into the community in one way or another and that is clearly very welcome.

"There are no guarantees but we hope that a positive experience will give service users a sense of pride and confidence which will help them move away from crime.”

Previous beneficiaries, have included Women’s Aid, Victim Support, Foodbank, and the Neonatal baby unit. In North Ayrshire, CPOs are managed and supervised by Justice Social Work Services who operate a number of projects to allow people who have previously been convicted of offences to turn their lives around and make a positive contribution to their local community.