For the men who built it, the underwater wonderland that picked up two awards in this year’s Bermuda Day Parade is much more than just a float.

It represents countless hours of hard work, but more importantly it is proof to the world outside Westgate’s walls that prisoners can have a positive influence on the community.

The 13-strong team of inmates began work on the colourful aquatic scene in March and spent every hour they were permitted to create the eye-catching entry.

They were still working on it late in to Sunday evening before the parade such was the pride that had been poured into the Corrections creation.

Victor Roberts was at the forefront on the team effort and provided invaluable technical and mechanical expertise.

“Every one of us put something into this design and it brought us all together as a group, too,” he said.

“Winning two categories means a lot to us all. It hopefully shows we are not all bad people; yes, we have all done wrong, but it lets the public know we are trying to do something positive.

“It also shows there are some talented people up here who can give something back to society.”

The Department of Corrections entry picked up the Ruth Thomas Heritage Award and the prize for best Government department at this year’s parade.

Today the float will be taken down to St George’s where it will be put on display in Town Square.

The prisoners who took part in the project were: Mr Roberts, Kenneth Burgess, Phillip Bradshaw, Jermaine Pearman, Norris Simpson, Shannon Tucker, Erskine Phillips, Jay Dill, Jahroy Simmons, Ze Selassie, Geontai Minors, Brittonie Taylor and Malik Zuill.

Mr Burgess told The Royal Gazette: “It was a real collective effort. I feel privileged and honoured to be able to take part in one of Bermuda’s most recognised traditions.

“May 24 is a celebration of all things Bermudian and being thankful for life and love. This float is a symbol of all that and means a lot to us all. A lot of blood sweat and tears went into it, but it was a lot of fun too.”

Mr Bradshaw added: “It’s good that we can come together and do something positive like this.

“There’s a lot of pride in what we did and the fact we won two categories.”

The inmates created the float in the carpentry and metalwork workshops at Westgate. Their efforts were overseen by social worker Yvette Brown who helped to choose the theme for this year’s corrections’ float.

Mr Minors said: “There’s been a lot of effort and dedication involved in this project.

“When we found out we had won, it really felt like we had achieved something and done a good thing.”