People-person Murray Cruickshank is looking forward to a new way of helping the community through his role at Ōtorohanga Employment Hub.
Seeing people improve is one of the things that motivates Murray Cruickshank, a recent hire at Ōtorohanga Employment Hub who spent several years helping released prisoners adjust to life outside the walls.
He has built a career out of helping people, with his other roles including as a teacher aide helping special needs students in Ōtorohanga, running a woodwork and engineering unit at a disability training centre in Tauranga, and a limited stint in the mental health sector.
Murray’s recent move to Ōtorohanga was a homecoming of sorts.
He was born in Raetihi and his family moved to the district when he was a young child, about 18 months or two years old.
His schooling was through Ōtorohanga South School and then Ōtorohanga College.
Murray moved away and spent a long stretch – “almost half my life” – working for Telecom, which was then known as the New Zealand Post Office.
After being made redundant he moved back to Ōtorohanga and worked as a teacher aide at the special unit at Ōtorohanga South School.
“I actually found that really rewarding, just helping out, seeing people improve.
“One guy at the beginning of the year couldn’t use a broom and by the end of the year he was sweeping, sweet as.”
Following his time at the school, Murray shifted to Tauranga and worked in the disability sector.
He ran the woodwork and engineering unit at Avalon’s disability training centre there.
“The guys were getting paid proper wages,” he said.
“What made it really special, I think, was just seeing them improve with their skills as well.”
Murray moved on to work in the mental health sector, but said he found it a difficult area to work in.
About seven or eight years ago, he began working with released prisoners in Tauranga.
He worked with men who had been released from Waikeria, Springhill, Tongariro and some from as far away as Rimutaka Prison.
“That was hugely rewarding.”
Murray helped with little things such as getting their benefits started, photo identification, bank accounts set up for the many who didn’t have them, through to the more complex, like helping to re-engage with whānau, building CVs and helping with employment.
He was supposed to work with the men for up to three months, generally getting them readjusted to life outside of prison, but he said some of them needed longer.
Others needed even less time and were back in employment within a month.
Murray said the ones who turned around their lives the most were aged 40 or older.
“They’re getting on in age a bit and they have nothing. They’ve lost their family, they’ve lost their children, they’ve lost everything.
“It’s like, ‘I have nothing, so I need to get moving forward again’.”
Murray describes the work as hugely rewarding.
“I’ve met some pretty amazing, talented young men, seriously.
“And they’ve just made bad decisions and hung out with the wrong people, and they just need a bit of guidance.
“Everything was their work; I just walked alongside them.”
A lot of Murray’s work required him to think on his feet to ensure the best outcome and the safety of those he works with.
His experiences provide a good backdrop for his new role in talent engagement at the employment hub.
“I think it makes me very aware of family circumstances, more than just the individual person. You’re taking in a holistic background of everything.
“You’ve got to think about the person and what sort of work they actually want to do and what is suitable for them.”
Perhaps someone has allergies that mean working in certain environments won’t work, or they’ve got a mental health condition like anxiety that means they don’t want to be around a lot of people.
Murray said the aim was to get people into employment that would work for the long term.
“We want people to have a career.”
