Ashfield Staff Mentoring
Ashfield Staff Mentoring (ASM) is a pioneering project which trains, deploys and supervises Ashfield prison staff as Volunteer Mentors to help reduce re-offending rates.
The ASM project has been running alongside our established Friends on the Out (FotO) Mentoring Scheme for over a year and currently has 15 trained staff members from a variety of departments who are operating as Volunteer Staff Mentors.
Like the FotO Scheme, Volunteer Mentors initially meet their Mentee on a one-tone basis inside the prison during the final 3-6 months of the young person's sentence, contact continues post-release in the Mentees local community. Mentors can help with practical matters such as housing, education and finding employment as well as offering encouragement and support.
With unrivalled experience and an outstanding track record from the FotO scheme, combined with excellent working relationships at Ashfield, Prodigal Son have launched this exciting project and nurtured its development from a pilot project to a fully operational Mentoring scheme in its own right. This is understood to be the first scheme of its kind that utilises operational prison staff as Volunteer Mentors.
Staff members request to be part of the scheme and undergo a 2 day training course with a syllabus specially adapted to the specific requirements and expertise of the Ashfield staff. As well as delivering Mentor training course twice a year, Prodigal Son supervise the matching and operation of Mentors, keeping records of each contact between Mentee and Mentor, be it in person or by telephone, throughout the duration of the Mentoring relationship.
The staff Mentors are all volunteers and bring an incredible commitment and enthusiasm to the ASM scheme, as well as their professional training and skill in dealing with often-challenging young men. Through their work, staff Mentors sometimes know and are involved with the young person they come to Mentor, which fuels the motivation of wanting to see that young person succeed in life after release. As well as the direct benefit on the Mentees circumstances and opportunities, the ASM scheme gives the Mentor a safe and transparent structure to continue that positive support for the young person, which can be incredibly satisfying.
The ASM scheme is well received by staff and is having a really positive effect on the whole culture of Ashfield, as it reinforces the focus on the long term outcomes and positive future of the young people and local communities served by the prison. The scheme and Prodigal Son have the full support and co-operation of the senior leadership of the prison and Serco, who operate HMP & YOI Ashfield on a contracted basis on behalf of the UK Government.
Commenting on the scheme, Ashfield Director, Wendy Sinclair said, “Establishing mentoring schemes in prison that genuinely do ensure that the relationship is established in prison and continues effectively on release is usually a triumph of rhetoric over reality. This small but very effective resettlement scheme is the exception that proves the rule and is one of the most successful resettlement initiatives that I have seen – simple and it works – I am so proud of the team's achievements.“
You can read more about Serco and Ashfield on their website http://www.serco.com/ashfield/
MY MENTOR'S STORY, by Ashfield Staff Mentor
An Ashfield Staff Mentor tells his story - the ups and downs of being a mentor within Ashfield
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