Inmates go walkabout
SERCO staff and inmates at the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre have helped raise more than $80,000 for indigenous charity group Red Dust.
The 300-bed Southern Queensland Correctional Centre opened in January at Spring Creek near Gatton, and Serco is contracted to manage and operate the centre.
Serco's national Walkabout Week for Red Dust involved Serco staff, friends and family helping to raise more than $40,000 for Red Dust, a not-for-profit charity that improves the health and wellbeing of indigenous Australians in remote communities.
Serco pledged to match all funds raised dollar for dollar, bringing the grand total to more than $80,000.
A large group of staff members and offenders at the centre walked 5km along the internal perimeter of the prison and donated a minimum of $5 to participate.
About 30 staff and more than 100 offenders participated and many more helped to co-ordinate the event, with the offenders raising more than $670 and staff more than $2000 with every dollar matched by Serco.
Disadvantaged indigenous youth will benefit from the success of Serco's Walkabout initiative, with the money raised helping Red Dust deliver early intervention health promotion programs to the community of Kintore's primary school students over the next 12 months.
