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NEW
FUNDING HELPS PEOPLE LEAVING PRISON REBUILD THEIR LIVES
A PROJECT in
South Sefton, Merseyside, helping people who have been in prison or
who have served a community sentence to rebuild their lives and find
jobs, education or training has been extended. This follows a
new funding agreement for the ‘Getting Sefton Working’
project run by employment charity, Tomorrow’s People. The Liverpool
Paradise Foundation, set up to support good causes in Merseyside is
providing £45,000 over a period of three years. A further £70,000 of
European Social Fund support has also been provided by the
Government Office for the North West.
Tomorrow’s People runs the project in the 5 most deprived wards in
South Sefton, in a bid to help many people who are struggling to
find and keep a job. It specifically helps people who are leaving
prison or finishing sentences in the community, as it has been found
that employment is a significant factor in reducing re-offending.
The initiative provides employment support to anyone aged 18 or
over, who is leaving prison or finishing a community sentence, and
whose home address or accommodation is in one of South Sefton’s most
deprived neighbourhoods - the Pathways’ areas of Bootle, Linacre,
Seaforth, Orrell and Dunningsbridge.
Individuals are helped by Tomorrow’s People specialist employment
advisers – Sarah Thompson and Danielle Carubia - who provide 1 to 1,
confidential advice and guidance on CV preparation, interview
techniques, confidence and motivation building, job searching, help
with answers to difficult questions like the disclosure of criminal
offences; and on how to match their skills to relevant employers,
including those who do not advertise job vacancies. The
project operates from offices at Hawthorne Road, Bootle, with
employment advisers based at other sites within the South Sefton
neighbourhoods, like community and training centres and hostels. The
advisers also offer weekly outreach support from the Bootle and
Waterloo offices of the National Probation Service and also from
their Drug Rehabiliatation and Requirements (DRR) Unit.
Other close working relationships are maintained with key support
workers and advisers representing South Sefton Partnership, Sefton @
Work, Hugh Baird College, Connexions and various Sefton Drug
Intervention Programmes (DIP) and Drug Alcohol Awareness Teams (DAAT).
Tomorrow’s People advisers are also being introduced to prisoners
before their release through the resettlement units of prisons in
the North West including HMP Liverpool in Walton, and through
pre-release job fairs and other network partners. By working in
partnership with other organisations, Tomorrow’s People is able to
offer a holistic, tailor-made approach to ex-offenders, supporting
them into sustainable work and independent living.
A report by The Social Exclusion Unit, “Reducing re-offending by
ex-prisoners” (July 2002), found, employment reduces the risk of
re-offending by people who have been in prison by up to 50%, which
is why a project of this kind is important in helping reduce crime
and its associated costs to society. As well as helping job
seeking ex-offenders to find work, Tomorrow’s People ensures that
the people supported remain in employment by offering a minimum of
12 months In-Work Aftercare Support. The Tomorrow’s People
employment adviser remains in touch even after an individual has
started a job, helping them and their employer to overcome any
teething troubles that may occur when starting work after a long
period of unemployment. This has been so successful that on average,
76% of people helped by Tomorrow’s People remain in employment after
12 months.
Chris Jones, Tomorrow’s People’s Operations Manager for Merseyside,
said:- “We are helping many people with a history of offending
to rebuild their lives and have more positive futures. As our
service is independent of government employment programmes, it
reduces mistrust of the establishment inherent in many ex-offenders,
helping them to stay engaged with the project. The Tomorrow’s
People service is designed to provide a long-term solution, rather
than a short-term fix in supporting and developing clients who have
a history of offending. Ultimately we want to help the individual
transform their life and find and keep a job, which is the most
significant way of reducing re-offending. When people are in
permanent employment, the risk of re-offending is dramatically
reduced. This can only have a positive impact on their lives
individually and on society as a whole.”
Tomorrow’s People, with a 22-year track record of helping people out
of long term unemployment, provides a number of additional
programmes across Merseyside including into-work support programmes
for excluded young people and help for people out of work for health
reasons and claiming incapacity benefit. The Merseyside operation
has the Matrix Quality Standard awarded by EMQC, the national
accountable body for the delivery of advice and guidance to adults.
For further information about these employment projects please
contact Tomorrow’s People by telephoning 0151 255 1400 (Liverpool
office) or write to Tomorrow’s People at 1st Floor, Marybone
Community Association, Addison Way, Liverpool L3 2EW or
email the Local Manager,
Chris Jones.
CHRISTOPHER’S STORY
“With the right support, people with drug addiction can turn
their life around…”
Chris, an ex drug addict, aged 33, from Merseyside has rebuilt his
life thanks to the ‘Getting Sefton Working’ project.
Chris left school at aged 16, with no qualifications and joined the
Royal Navy, where he completed basic training to become a naval
seaman. Like many young people, Chris was unsure what he was going
to do with his future. He went onto complete an NVQ in Business
Administration and began his career as an administrator in an office
environment.
Subsequently, Chris has worked within a warehouse environment for 12
years, off and on, interrupted by various criminal offences relating
to his drug habit.
Chris was referred to the Tomorrow’s People ‘Getting Sefton
Working’ project by Sefton@Work, a service providing high
quality information, advice and guidance to South Sefton residents
aged 16 plus. When Chris started with Tomorrow’s People he
wanted to gain employment as a support worker, working with
individuals who had gone through a similar experience as himself. He
is currently undertaking qualifications in drug and alcohol
awareness and has begun paid training with a jobcentre plus
accredited driving organisation.
Sarah Thompson, Client Adviser at Tomorrow’s People Merseyside
said:- “Chris is determined to succeed and to encourage young
people not to exclude themselves from learning. With the right
support, people with drug addiction can turn their life around.”
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MERSEYSIDE IS A BURGLAR’S PARADISE?
IT SEEMS
Scousers are finally letting go of their bad reputation for crime
with Mancs reporting double the number of burglaries between April
2006 and March 2007 in comparison to Merseyside. Although we
shouldn't break out the bubbly just yet, as Merseyside is still a
hotbed for crime, with a staggering 19,761 burglaries reported in
the area in the same period*. Such figures are shocking and
beggar the question, why are we as a community not doing more to
protect our property and possessions?
With National Home Security Week (25 August to 31 August 2007) upon us, Kasp, the
UK’s leading supplier of padlocks, is urging residents of Merseyside
to re-think their current home security measures and take action to
deter would be thieves.
Graham Godfrey, brand manager for Kasp, warned:- “Although
this summer has been a washout, the remainder of August is set to
brighten up, which tempts us outdoors leaving property at greater
risk. Police report that this is the time of year when more
properties are broken into than any other. People are out enjoying
the fine weather or heading away for a break, and they can easily
forget to secure their homes. Garden sheds are also an easy
target and sadly 15% of Brits never lock or secure their garden shed
doors, which is bewildering when you consider that the average shed
contains around £2000 worth of equipment! National Home Safety
Week is the ideal opportunity to raise awareness of the potential
dangers and encourage the residents of Merseyside to secure their
properties adequately so that the alarming burglary rate in the area
reduces significantly.”
*Home Office report (2006/07)
Temporary relocation of Sexual Health Services from Ormskirk
SEXUAL Health
Services, also known as Genito-urinary Medicine or GUM, currently
provided at Acacia House at Ormskirk & District General Hospital
will be temporarily relocated to Southport & Formby DGH from 3
September. We have to do this due to Clinical Governance concerns
relating to staffing issues.
The temporary centralisation of GUM services will enable us to
provide an enhanced service for patients, including:-
* Improved capacity for the walk-in clinics each morning Monday to
Friday (doors open 8.40am)
* Evening clinics on
at least two evenings (currently Tuesday and Thursday)
* More appointment
clinics
Janette Brookes, Director of Operations said:- "We appreciate
that there will be some inconvenience for residents from West
Lancashire. Our aim is to see 100% of patients within 2 working days
of referral and for all emergencies to be seen immediately. It is
currently not possible to provide that kind of access in the
part-time service at Ormskirk. All the staff will now be based
at the clinic in Southport and will have access to immediate support
from senior colleagues for advice. In addition, all staff will
participate in an excellent educational, training and clinical
governance programme."
The term-time facility we offer to students at Edge Hill University
will be unaffected by this temporary closure.
The future development of a service at Ormskirk has been under
discussion with Central Lancashire PCT.
Peter Tinson, Associate Director of Commissioning, for Central
Lancashire PCT, added:- 'We are actively exploring the best
service model for West Lancashire patients. It is anticipated that
this work will be completed during the autumn of 2007.'
PDSA launches Young Photographer of the Year competition
LEADING
veterinary charity PDSA has launched its 2nd Young Photographer of
the Year competition, offering talented young snappers the chance to
win fantastic Canon digital cameras! The competition,
which appears in the August 2007 issue of the charity’s children’s club
magazine, Animal Antics, is open to all young people under the age
of 18. It invites wanna-be David Bailey’s to enter their animal and
wildlife photographs for the chance to be named PDSA Young
Photographer of the Year!
Vicki Craighill, Young PDSA Executive, says:- “We are looking
for talented snappers to enter their unusual and interesting animal
shots in PDSA’s Young Photographer of the Year competition. So, if
your pet photos have star quality or you’ve recently captured
wildlife on camera, why not enter them today! It’s the ‘purr-fect’
opportunity to show off your skills, while being in with the chance
of winning a fantastic digital camera.”
The competition has 3 categories, Under 12 animal photograph, 12 to 18
animal photograph and Best wildlife photograph. A winner and runner
up will be chosen for each category. Winners will receive a
fantastic Canon digital camera, plus their photograph will appear in
Animal Antics and feature on the Young PDSA website. The
deadline for the competition, which is free to enter, is 30
September 2007. Entries should be sent to Young PDSA Photographer of
the Year Competition, PDSA Head Office, Whitechapel Way, Priorslee,
Telford, Shropshire TF2 9PQ or by
email.
Don’t forget to include your name, address, telephone number, date
of birth, Pet Protector membership number (if applicable) and the
category you are entering!
Visit
www.youngpdsa.org.uk for full details, plus some
handy hints on how to take a great photograph!
Why is Liverpool's
Anglican Cathedral was used on the "North West’s Top 5
Driving Hates"?
THE report was very good and was
written by Tom Evans on 23 August 2007, on MSN with regards to the
results of a driving survey they had undertaken. The results showed
that "Over half of motorists in the North West (57%) find
driving around the UK a “miserable experience”." This
figure is very interesting, but what was more interesting was what
one of our readers spotted and sent to us.
Mark from Liverpool
spotted that the photo on the page about the North West was not a
motoring one, but one of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.
"With all the bad news around
Liverpool this week and also with Liverpool having its 800th
Birthday next week I was shocked to find that MSM was showing one of
Liverpool's two Cathedrals on a page about bad motoring. Can
you find out why?"
So we took a look and
"yes", a photo of the Birthday Firework Display on top
of the Cathedral last year was used on the "North West’s Top 5
Driving Hates".
What did that have to
do with it we also asked?
Also why pick a
celebration photo of fireworks on Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral on
a page about bad experiances about motoring?
Can any one explain?
We have asked MSM for a reply...
See the MSM report... |
