A community payback team take the ferry from Sconser on Skye most Fridays to work on the renovations of this historic building.

James Maybee, chair of the Highland Community Justice Partnership, said: “Community payback clients are working hard to support the opening of the Raasay Heritage Trust’s mill project in 2026.

“The chances of someone reoffending is reduced significantly when they can maintain their contact with family, their accommodation and their work. Community justice is about finding ways for offenders to serve a sentence from home, while getting support to rehabilitate and the opportunity to give back to the community.

He added: “A sentence in the community can change the path of a person’s life, as well as contributing to and improving their community. Useful work gets done all around Highland communities which mostly goes unseen and unacknowledged. This does call for a degree of tolerance from our communities, along with the willingness to actively offer meaningful jobs, as well as individual placements especially in remote parts of Highland.

“It is thanks to community leaders (such as Rebecca Mackay) who appreciate that we all have to pull together, to invest time and skills in people in order to make our communities safer in the long term.”

The Raasay Heritage Trust have been holding a vision for the Old Mill for 30 years, operating without a premises helping people trace their ancestry and storing historical artifacts, they want the heritage centre to “create a focus for local people to celebrate their heritage and for the many people who return to Raasay looking for their roots (often descendants of families who were cleared off the land in the 1800s). The centre will include a café, library and display areas for their collections”

Rebecca, ex teacher and Trustee said this is a prime example of how well the Unpaid Work Scheme benefits the community. The team have been great workers who want to see the job done and are helping to clear up the whole site. One lad is incredibly proficient with plastering and will get some paid work with us after his sentence is completed.”

One of the clients was a young keen worker, he said: “I’ve got lots of drug charges and restrictions and a sentence of 270 hours to complete. If I’m not on community payback then I’m just at home smoking dope. It’s hard to move on and get a job in a small community where everyone knows you and is suspicious of you. The police keep coming for me even when I’ve not done anything. Community payback is much better than jail, I’ve spent time there and it’s not the kind of people you want to be around. If community payback can give me some coaching and a reference so I can break out of this pattern, that would be good. I’ve tried to join the army and to be a paramedic, but my background got in the way.”

There was consensus amongst the clients that it’s worthwhile coming to community payback, that it gives them: “something to do and it’s a bonus that James isn’t an ex-copper”, they admitted he is considered “a bit of a legend”.

James Bates, CPO Officer and Supervisor for ten years, added: “I treat people as I would like to be treated, all the clients have a back story and deserve dignity and respect. The value of the Community Payback Order to both the client and to the community cannot be understated.”

Rebecca Mackay spoke fondly of the clients, saying: “My boys will come to the official opening of Muileann Àrais next year”. She added that “another 50k is needed to complete the works, and donations are most welcome. More information is available at this site Muileann Arais Heritage Centre on the Isle of Raasay.

The Highland Community Justice Partnership pays tribute to all those groups who are working with community payback teams and offering projects and placements; including charity shops, churches, community hubs, gardens and cafes, trusts, councils and groups all around Highland.