Today, speaking from the grounds of Perth College Lucy has been clean for over 2 years; at 37 she has returned to education for the first time since she left school at 15.“I’ve got a portfolio of certificates and I am aiming for a degree with a dissertation in addiction and recovery,” Lucy says. She has completed peer mentor training with Venture Trust and its partner Move On to help other women caught up in the criminal justice system.
One of Lucy’s proudest achievements was being recognised with the presentation of a local champion award through the criminal justice system. The system that could have locked her away instead provided her with the opportunity to change her life.
“My life has totally changed. I’m in a brilliant place with my son. I’ve got a fighting chance to get him home. I have my grandchildren on weekends. These are things that would never have happened before” she says.
Like all of Venture Trust’s programmes, during phase 1 there is support in the participants’ communities which usually lasts for 3-6 months. An outreach worker, in partnership with other agencies, will help the participant to stabilise their lifestyle, so that they’re able to embark on (and benefit from) the wilderness phase. The participant will be introduced to other local people in similar circumstances, helping them to build a positive network of peers and supporters. Finally, the participant will receive one-to-one support to identify the choices, actions or behaviours they need to change in order to develop a more sustainable lifestyle.
emotional and social challenges. These challenges are carefully designed to encourage learning and development, to help participants to increase their aspirations, confidence and motivation, and to develop a range of skills for life, learning and work.
Back in their community during phase 3, each person has access to one-to-one support from a Venture Trust outreach worker. They are supported to achieve their aims, to utilise the skills they have acquired to work towards opportunities such as employment, education, training and volunteering.
“Venture Trust believed in me. They gave me the support and the drive and it’s changed my life,” Lucy says.
Venture Trust has two criminal justice programmes that are integral to the Scottish justice landscape. Living Wild and Next Steps. The focus is on supporting individuals to make positive changes through personal development, experiential learning and acquiring life skills. Participants are helped to raise their aspirations, confidence, understand cause and effect, and responsibility, and give them space for change. In a recent study*, evidence suggests that 75% of women who have completed the Next Steps programme are less likely to reoffend, and 83% are more employable, with a significant number already in employment. These programmes really work.
If community based services, and programmes are to be the alternative to custodial sentencing of 12 months or less, then these services must be appropriately developed and resourced, and evaluated to ensure efficacy. There must also be greater understanding of what is available and trust that the alternative works, amongst those giving the sentence.
CPOs are a valuable alternative to short term custodial sentencing; they benefit the wellbeing of the individual, and the wider community, the tax payer, and encourage a safer environment. Authorities must work closely with organisations like Venture Trust in order to get the best results.
The opportunity now exists to start getting this right; to start making justice work. It is time to invest in smart justice.
Lucy’s story is fantastic and I am so pleased that her own words and experiences have been able to be shared.
I participated in the Venture Trust Positive Futures programme and just as it did for Lucy, it totally changed my life’s direction. I was suffering with depression and anxiety and I faced a criminal conviction. I was becoming more angry and things were spiralling out of control.
The CJS were very helpful and decided that diversion from conviction should be offered to me and I was also referred to Venture Trust.
I knew it would work as soon as I spoke to my Outreach workers (I had two!). The support I received was phenomenal. It was all about scraping all the damaged layers away so we could build up a fresh skin of positivity instead.
Then the wilderness Journey. This was where I found the real me. I recognised part of him, the guy that kept himself fit and enjoyed being in the outdoors. I also met a new me. This guy loves the outdoors too. However, this guy also knows that sometimes he needs to go wild camping and spend some time away in order to find the space to breath and without doing much else apart from lots of walking, he returns home refreshed and inspired.
The wilderness programmes that Venture Trust use work for us in different ways and this is how it helped me. I knew during my wilderness phase that I would return to the outdoors in order to find that feeling it gave me then.
So, it is so important that the wilderness programmes continue to be funded and supported. It makes sense to give people the chance to change their life instead of letting them become trapped in the justice system.