Baroness Corston Celebrates ISIS Success
25th November 2011
Baroness Jean Corston, Gloucestershire Probation Trust (GPT) chief John Bensted, and senior figures from the Ministry of Justice participated in an Open Day to celebrate the achievements of Gloucester’s ISIS Women’s Centre, an innovative service which is transforming the lives of women who are ex-offenders or at high risk of offending because of the many complex problems in their lives.
Speaking today at Belsize House, Gloucester, where ISIS and its partner-service Family Focus are run by local charity The Nelson Trust, Baroness Corston said “For women who lead chaotic lives and are overwhelmed by problems, self-esteem and self-confidence are essential to enable them to turn things around and to become good citizens.”
Speaking of the 200 women every year who are involved with the Probation service, John Bensted, head of the Gloucestershire Probation Trust said “We are lucky. Not all areas of the country have this kind of fantastic resource. We had a challenge to radically transform these women’s lives, and clearly the Nelson Trust was leading the way. It seemed obvious that we needed to work in partnership with them”. For the last year, two GPT Offender Managers are based at ISIS working side-by-side with the ISIS keyworkers and their clients.
In 2007 Baroness Corston published a report into the needs of women in prison, and identified that most of these women had very complex support needs which were not addressed in the prison system, and would lead women back into re-offending time and again until they had help to make lasting changes in their lives. This was the challenge which has been met by The Nelson Trust, a Gloucestershire charity best known for its work with individuals and families recovering from addiction. Chief Executive of the Nelson Trust, Steve Cooke, explains: “The Ministry of Justice agreed to help fund this service because of our track record in turning around the lives of women who had faced terrible difficulties which had led them into addiction and crime. By understanding the emotional and social problems of people who have been damaged by trauma and abuse, we can develop trust and engage them in learning to build their confidence, their skills and their resources to cope with life”.
The ISIS Women’s Centre was opened in the Spring of 2010 to provide a wide range of services for women who have multiple, complex needs and who either come out of prison or are serving community sentences. They offer support with drug and alcohol problems, training and education, housing and benefits, family and relationship problems and also help to address deeper emotional problems resulting from experiences of trauma and abuse.
The centre works in close partnership with the probation service, the NHS and a wide range of public and voluntary sector services to create a safe, friendly and informal centre where women can:-
• Learn new skills and gain qualifications
• Get expert advice and support on a wide range of problems from homelessness and debt to domestic violence and relationship breakdown
• Take part in groups that help to build confidence, self-esteem, communication and parenting skills
• Learn about the impact of drugs, alcohol and crime on themselves, their victims and the community
• Have regular contact with a key-worker who will help them to overcome practical problems and access support services.
In the short time that they have been in place, the ISIS team have worked with over 500 women.
“Not only are we helping these women to turn their lives around, but we are also trying to break the cycle where a whole bundle of problems - poverty, abuse, addiction, mental ill-health and offending - get passed from one generation to the next” explained Steve Cooke. “In the same building as ISIS our Family Focus service offers programmes of family therapy, couples counselling and clinical support for children, young people and whole families that have been affected by drug and alcohol problems, abuse and poor mental health. By having these services for women and for families working in close partnership we can really break that cycle of problems”
Of equal importance, the investment made in providing this service produces great benefits for the wider community. As a result of the work undertaken at ISIS and Family Focus, there are fewer children in care or “At Risk”, fewer crimes being committed, and savings of public money are achieved in the criminal justice system, health services and social services.
Rose Mahon, the Service Manager says “I believe that our success has been the result of strong partnerships across the county and a dedicated team of staff and volunteers who are really passionate about giving women an opportunity to change their lives”.
