Offenders try their hand at elf work

Offenders on community work orders have helped create more than 150 wooden toys for a local charity in the lead-up to Christmas.

Countless helicopters, trucks, horses and cows have been designed and created by offenders in a small building in Medina, south of Perth.

The toys will be distributed to children of WA prisoners and other needy people through volunteer-run group Santa’s Workshop.

A Department of Corrective Services spokesman said skilled community-based work gave offenders a sense of self-worth.

“Offenders are better able to engage in the work when they know it’s for such a good cause,” he said.

Santa’s Workshop operates from Sevenoaks Senior College in Cannington. Toys are made on-site and are also collected from groups like the Medina workshop.

The group distributes toys year-round to about 17 agencies and locations, including Princess Margaret Hospital and remote Aboriginal communities.