BIRMINGHAM CHARITY HELPS UK PRISON SYSTEM GET OUT OF CURRENT CRISIS
Keir Starmer’s plan to solve the crisis of Britain’s overcrowded prisons, will fail unless crucial support is put in place, according to Birmingham charity Foundation 2 Change CIC.
The Institute for Government has recently stated that the prison population has increased by 13 per cent in the past three years and is predicted to hit 99,300 by the end of next year. It is estimated that male prisons only have around 700 free spaces, plunging the new government into immediate crisis.
The prime minister highlighted in his first press conference that too many people find themselves back in prison “relatively quickly” highlighting the lack of intervention to break the cycles of reoffending. Current statistics show that more than one in four people released from prison reoffend; with drug use, childhood trauma and issues with accommodation cited as the main reasons.
The newly appointed prisons minister, James Timpson has said he wants to change the way the country locks people up and advocates reforming and supporting people not to reoffend, by training and employing ex-offenders.
This is an enormous task and a spokesperson from Foundation 2 Change (F2C) says their charity is already supporting large numbers of ex-offenders and working on various future strategies in order to make real change.
Jay Arnold, director of the charity said, “F2C offers a service that has been designed with the help of prisoners themselves to break the cycle of re-offending, in an attempt to halt the current ‘revolving door’ system. The founders and directors have lived experience and offer real hope and the opportunity of lasting recovery, rather than simply paying lip service to the problem.
“The current system has a spoke in the wheel that the new government cannot overlook if they are serious about an overhaul and making a real difference to ex-offenders.
“We support people to recover from poor mental health, addiction, homelessness, reoffending and social isolation; reconnecting prisoners back within their community to lead a productive life. We provide the opportunity for people in our community programmes to attend outdoor activities and workshops in safe and supported environments.
“We also facilitate targeted coaching sessions to support healthy change to enable healing and recovery and keep people out of prison and our communities safe. From our first meeting in prison, at the gate on release, or our community groups, we are daily seeing the change and inspiration to find a way out of the cycle of reoffending.
The charity, who has already supported over 500 ex-offenders to take the required steps to becoming happy and fulfilled members of society, says it offers a real option of reducing prison costs.
Mr Arnold, who founded F2C in 2021 concludes, “Our team is living proof that recovery is possible. With over 50 years of abstinence-based recovery between us, we know first-hand the path to recovery from the care system to mental health institutions and prisons, to becoming productive members of society.”
Editor’s note
The Foundation 2 Change CIC prison support services focuses on reducing reoffending rates by offering support for addiction, life skills training and addressing trauma.
This service aims to equip inmates with practical skills and provide emotional support to improve their chance of successful reintegration into society and therefore reduce the likelihood of returning to crime or prison.
The charity’s program encompasses vocational training, therapy, counselling, and educational opportunities to address the complex factors contributing to criminal behaviour.
F2C conducted a mapping exercise to over 100 prisoners and the results found the following.
- The lack of understanding of internal issues & external barriers keeping people stuck within the cycle of offending
- For years these people had been supported by professionals with academic qualifications which didn’t spark any hope that change was possible
Working with people with “lived experience” to help ex-offenders overcome addiction, poor mental health and other challenges, offers a permanent exit from prison is the only way to spark hope & willingness to change.
A key barrier identified is the lack of appropriate abstinent recovery housing when someone is released from prison. The prisoner view is that there is no point in putting rehabilitation at the forefront of their minds whilst completing a sentence as their experience was that they would be placed in a HMO where drugs are openly available.
