We were working alongside Gillian Ormston, of Double Trouble Development and Jacqueline Jardine, of Jardine-White Consulting Ltd, working with a number of male offenders at Her Majesty’s Prison Bedford, to help them make better life choices for the future on their release from prison.
In a recent press release Justice Secretary Michael Gove, was quoted as saying “There is a horrifying failure to reduce re-offending when criminals leave prison. As things stand, we do not have the right incentives for prisoners to learn or for prison staff to prioritise education, and that’s got to change.”
The On My Way (OMW) Empowerment Programme aimed to support offenders by addressing their attitudes, thinking and behaviours to break their patterns of re-offending. The programme seeks to provide offenders with new strategies to deal with the everyday challenges that may lead them to commit further crimes cialis nachnahme. Along with these new strategies, participants look to create a future story that enables them to live a crime-free life.
The OMW Empowerment Programme will be measured and tested over time, as and when the offenders are released back into the community within the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire (BENCH) area.
Deborah Inskip of Crimebeat said “Having observed two of the workshops and discussing with the offenders their new approach to themselves and to life outside, I have absolutely no doubt that these workshops will make a huge difference to the life chances of these residents when they leave the prison. I have seen a marked change in their thinking and confidence in only a few weeks. This course has been such a life-changer for them that they want to be part of the next set of workshops to give other offenders the benefit of their learning and experience. The OMW team have delivered a great gift that will have far-reaching consequences for many years to come.”
The pilot programme, was funded by a grant from Crimebeat, that concluded in October 2015 and was in collaboration with St Giles Trust, Bedford Prison Through The Gate Lead, Deborah Inskip (Trustee of Crimebeat and former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire), local charity Bedfordshire Crimebeat, and the OMW team.
The next steps will be: To source additional funding to be able to run the programme throughout the BeNCH area; to roll out country wide and to look at further coaching modules on the release of offenders.