PHASE 1 – PRISON
BEYOND THE WALL
Phase 1 or Beyond the Wall was started in 2005, as a way to provide pre-release and post release support to clients being released from prison. The aim of the project was to make connections with people whilst they were inside, to assess what their resettlement needs were, and to work with them to address these needs whilst they were inside, and once they were released. We wanted them to return to the world outside and remain there. So we worked with them to find a home and a job, to sort out the profusion of problems with health, addiction and finance, and wherever possible we linked them back into their families. We worked in partnership with probation, local churches, drug and alcohol teams and other housing providers to support these guys. We provided outreach workers to maintain contact with guys once they had been released, and then, if they so required, to move them on to mentoring support. Our Staff were well-trained in Housing law and related issues and prepared to stand along side our clients at a variety of appointments, in particular at HPUs (Homeless Persons Units) where we helped them present themselves as vulnerable and therefore in priority need when appropriate.
HMP WORMWOOD SCRUBS
Following the closure of E-Wing as a Resettlement Wing in the Autumn of 2008 and the change in use of the prison so that many of the longer sentenced prisoners with whom we worked were transferred to prisons outside London, Stepping Stones Trust has regretfully had finally to close the project down in April 2010.
To hear from one of the guys we have worked with in the past, click here.