Volunteering case studies Highlighting good practice in the recruitment, engagement and retention of volunteers

Acknowledgments | Many thanks to staff, volunteers and service users at the two organisations whose work forms the basis of these case studies, in particular Stuart Ware, Jane Barkes, John and Andrew* at Restore Support Network and The Footprints Project, Jeremy Butler, Phil Edgington, Lawson and Stephen* at Kainos Community. All of these people were generous with their time and welcomed Clinks to their projects when we were researching the case studies and also helped with comments and follow up information. Thanks also to Richard Nicholls and Nicola Drinkwater at Clinks for their comments on the drafts.

* Indicates where names have been changed for the purposes of the case studies

Written by Clare Taylor | Published by Clinks, April 2013

© Clinks, 2013Unless otherwise indicated, no part of this publication may be stored in a retrievable system or reproduced in any form without prior written permission from Clinks. Clinks will give sympathetic consideration to requests from small organisations for permission to reproduce this publication in whole or in part but terms upon which such reproduction may be permitted will remain at Clinks' discretion.

2 Volunteering case studies

Contents Introduction 4

Case Study: Restore and Footprints 6

Spotlight: John, volunteer 10

Spotlight: Andrew, service user 12

Case Study: Kainos 14

Spotlight: Lawson, volunteer 17

Spotlight: Stephen, Kainos graduate 18

Youth justice y Appropriate adult

y Mentor y Youth Offender Panel member

Restorative justice y Victim-offender mediator y Family group conference facilitator y Community Justice Panel member

Victims y Witness Service volunteers in

Crown and Magistrates’ Courts y Victim Support volunteer

y Helpline advisor y Counselling

Probation y Probation Board member y Teaching literacy and numeracy

volunteer tutor y Supporting training courses y Mentor y Probation volunteer

Prisons y Official prison visitor

y Custody visitor y Prison visitors’ centre (support and

advice, assisting with practical tasks) y Play worker for children during prison visits

y Literacy, numeracy and basic skills volunteer tutor y Chaplaincy (from the main world faiths) y Volunteer orchestra leader

Police y Special Constable y Police Cadet y Independent custody visitors y Police support volunteer y Crimestoppers volunteer y Crime Prevention Panel member y Diamond Initiative volunteer

Other y Independent Monitoring Board member y MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection

Arrangements) lay advisor y Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator y Magistrate or Justice of the Peace y Providing helpdesks in Magistrates’ Courts y Raising awareness of Prisons Week

and Prisoners’ Sunday y Community Chaplain y Circles of Support member (working with sex

offenders to reduce the risk of re-offending) y Fundraiser for charities and voluntary and

community organisations that support offenders, ex-offenders, prisoners, those at risk of offending or the victims of crime

y Volunteer for charities and voluntary and community organisations that support offenders, ex-offenders, prisoners, those at risk of offending or the victims of crime

y Campaigner y Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel member y Educating young people and promoting

preventative measures y Courts Board member y Community Justice Panel member y LCJB (Local Criminal Justice Boards)

Independent Advisory Group member y Trustee

Volunteer roles for prisoners y Participating in park regeneration schemes y Providing Braille transcriptions for blind people y Creating artworks for hospices y Making wheelchairs y Citizens’ Advisor (in conjunction

with Citizens Advice Bureau) y Peer-advisers y The Samaritans listeners y Acting in plays y Timebanking

3Here are just some of the roles that volunteers undertake within the Criminal Justice System...

4 IntroductionVO

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Organisations in the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) play a vital role in reducing reoffending and changing lives. The work of VCS organisations makes a vital contribution to policies around the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and delivers high-quality services to offenders and their families. Clinks supports VCS organisations that are engaged in this work, and we are aware of many examples of good practice from organisations in the Sector.

The role of the VCS is particularly important when working with hard-to-reach groups. Offenders with multiple and complex needs often lack the trust necessary to engage with statutory services and organisations that appear to be in a position of authority. VCS organisations can mediate this experience and better connect individuals to the support they need.

Since 2008 Clinks has promoted best practice among volunteer-involving VCS organisations through its Volunteering and Mentoring programme, guided by a Volunteering and Mentoring Network steering group consisting of organisations in the Sector. We have produced a set of best practice guides for organisations that involve volunteers, and have published good practice resources and a set of evaluation tools for use by volunteer-involving projects1. We have also delivered a number of training sessions to VCS organisations so that they may use the evaluation tools to effectively capture the impact volunteers make within their organisations.

The following case studies highlight good practice examples of the VCS working with volunteers. We have focused on mentoring projects, to reflect the Coalition Government’s focus on mentoring within the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda. As well as outlining good practice amongst established mentoring projects, the case studies also depict some of the issues and challenges experienced by VCS organisations working with former offenders and their families.

The case studiesRestore Support Network, provides peer support to older prisoners over the age of 50. Older prisoners are now the fastest growing subgroup of prisoners in England and Wales2. There are around 8,000 prisoners aged 50 and over, comprising 11% of the prison population3 and many have multiple health and social care needs. Restore Support Network highlight just how valuable their work with mentors and peers is in connecting older prisoners with the support they need following their release back into the community.

The work of the second organisation, Kainos Community, focuses on matching well trained volunteer mentors with prisoners before their release to provide through-the-gate support. The mentors support prisoners following their engagement with an intensive and effective programme delivered by Kainos within prison. The changes in thinking, attitudes and behaviour achieved whilst on that programme are the foundations on which their community mentoring programme builds. Their work highlights just how important and effective it can be to have one organisation providing both in-prison and post-release support. Both the organisations made it clear that including volunteers brings a special quality to their work.

Why use volunteers?It is important for VCS organisations to consider carefully why they wish to use volunteers in their work. Individuals will have a wide range of reasons for choosing to volunteer, therefore it is crucial that organisations get to know their volunteers in order to find out what motivates them, what they are hoping to gain from the experience, what their

1. Evaluating Volunteer Impact, Clinks 2012: www.clinks.org/vol-eval-kit

2. Bromley Briefings prison fact file, Prison Reform Trust 2012: www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/FactfileJune2012.pdf

3. Bromley Briefings prison fact file, Prison Reform Trust 2012: www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/FactfileJune2012.pdf

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skills and interests are and what other commitments they have. Volunteers who are motivated and feel well supported are more likely to stay with organisations for a longer period of time.

The motivation of volunteers will vary from individual to individual. Some people will be motivated by their own experiences and want to support others by sharing their experiences with them. Other volunteers may be looking to gain a better chance of paid employment through the experience and training that may be available to them as volunteers. Still others may be motivated by a need to develop a deeper sense of connection to their local community or because they identify with the mission and values of a particular organisation.

Some important points for consideration include:

y What the volunteers’ roles will be

y The training volunteers need to effectively carry out their roles

y How volunteers will be managed and supervised

y Whether staff within the organisation have the necessary skills and capacity to manage volunteers

y The boundaries appropriate to place around the work of volunteers

y Defining the relationship between volunteers and paid staff in the organisation

y How, and to what extent, volunteers’ out-of-pocket expenses incurred whilst volunteering will be reimbursed.

The next sections will now focus on the organisations that were interviewed for this case study.

BackgroundRestore Support Network , is a user led peer support group specifically for older prisoners (aged over 50), set up in 1996 by Stuart Ware whilst serving a prison sentence. Whilst in prison Stuart witnessed first-hand some of the difficulties older prisoners face, including higher levels of physical illness (especially chronic disease), mental illness and depression compared with the wider prison population.

Often older prisoners need more support to resettle after prison, particularly after serving long sentences; which many older prisoners and Restore members have. Despite this says Stuart, the needs of older people are not recognised and taken into account. Since 1996 Restore has worked with over 350 older serving and former prisoners to try and meet their needs. They work with some of the most vulnerable older people within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) including those who have spent long periods in prison (some over 20 years), people convicted of sex offences and people with long-term mental health and health care issues.

The core of Restore's work is their Buddy Initiative, which was set up to be an extension of what already takes place in prisons informally between prisoners. Through this initiative, older reformed offenders who have been through the prison system buddy up and become role models to other older offenders following their release from prison. In the same way that some prisoners might help newer or vulnerable prisoners understand and navigate the prison system, buddies in the community aim to support newly released older prisoners and put them in touch with services and agencies which can help. This is based on their own experiences of being newly released from prison. Restore currently operate in the Dorset,

Bournemouth and Poole areas, with plans to expand into Somerset in 2013. Restore is non-judgmental regarding previous offences. The conditions they set out for membership are that people who sign up are committed to not re-offending and will make a positive contribution to supporting their local communities. With a few exceptions, Restore finds that the majority of older prisoners being released just want to get on with their lives and don’t want to reoffend.

Since January 2013, Restore has been going through the process of becoming a registered charity in order to sustain the increase in demand for their services and to ensure that their work can be funded and well resourced. Restore is receiving referrals from an increasing number of prison officers in resettlement departments as well as many self-referrals. Gaining charitable status will help Restore further develop their reputation with external and statutory agencies, as being a peer led (as well as older persons) support group, can mean that sometimes their work is met with resistance.

Some older ex-prisoners are considered to be unsuitable buddies by probation, particularly when they have been convicted for sex offences or serious violent offences. However, throughout their existence Restore have built up a bank of evidence about the needs of older prisoners and demonstrated that where appropriate, having a buddy does help with resettlement and can prevent reoffending.

Due to their specialist knowledge around older prisoners needs, Restore have been able to identify gaps in service provision for older prisoners and look to develop partnerships and apply for funding with local organisations. In 2010 Restore approached The Footprints Project with a proposal and were successful in securing funding to deliver Older Prisoners’ After Care (OPAC), which

Restore and Footprints

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incorporates short term goal focused mentoring with longer term non-outcome focused buddying to older prisoners at high risk of recall to prison or of reoffending. Restore recognised that they needed a partner organisation with the experience and skills needed to deliver the intensive 1-1 mentoring required for the OPAC project. A charity formed in 2005, Footprints is well established in providing through the gate mentoring of people returning from prison to Poole, Bournemouth, Dorset and South Somerset. They received Approved Provider Status from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation in 2011.

Referrals for the OPAC project come via a Service Level Agreement with Probation Area Offender Managers and Approved Premises Managers. Footprints deliver the initial 1-1 intensive mentoring following release from prison to ensure the following: keeping to licence conditions; moving from hostels into independent living; coping with moving to a new area and in seeking and maintaining treatment for mental health issues and disabilities. When the period of intensive mentoring is over and targets have been achieved, Restore deliver the longer term peer buddying which they are well established in doing.

Mentors within the OPAC project Footprints have between 20-25 volunteer mentors, with around six of these specifically mentoring older people as part of the OPAC project. As Stuart Ware told us, "We’re working with older prisoners, so we’re not talking about huge numbers ... I would much rather have a few mentors with the right qualities than large numbers who don’t." Volunteers work alongside paid members of Footprints staff, including: a Project Manager who oversees the overall work of Footprints; a part time Mentor and Prison Liaison Co-ordinator responsible for matching

mentees with mentors and assessing mentees in HMP Dorchester and HMYOI Portland; a part-time Prison Liaison Co-ordinator in HMP Guys Marsh, a part-time trainer for in-house training and a part-time outreach worker in the Bournemouth/Poole area who deals with all emergencies from mentors and mentees, supervises some cases and keeps in close contact with all mentors working in the community. Stuart Ware provides the specialist training around older prisoners. Mentors are also working alongside Restore peer buddies and undertake parts of training days alongside them. There are approximately 27 peer buddies with Restore Support Network.

Recruitment, selection and training of volunteersFootprints have an on-going process of volunteer recruitment through their local volunteer bureau. However they attract many people through word of mouth, with a steady stream of volunteers coming through the organisation. 87% of Footprints volunteers are over the age of 45 and have plenty of life experience, which is an important factor when considering matching them with older clients with more complex health and social care needs.

Their volunteers include a diverse range of people, from local faith communities and students as well as people with personal experience of the CJS and in recovery for drug and alcohol issues. Footprints welcomes people with personal experience of the CJS, however because mentoring can be challenging, they need to ensure that volunteers are in the right place to take these challenges on. It is crucial that volunteers are: reliable, consistent and dependable; can be a role model to their mentee; maintain appropriate boundaries and have an ability to handle some of the disappointments which come with mentoring.

Restore and Footprints

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Former offenders who volunteer with Footprints need to be living in independent accommodation and moving forward in their lives. The Project Manager adds that, "If they are not a few steps ahead of the person coming out of prison it does not work." Similarly, for the peer buddying that takes place through Restore once intensive mentoring has finished, careful attention is paid to the ‘buddying up’ of peers. For example, Restore would never match two people who had been convicted of sex offences so as to avoid putting them in situations which may lead them back into reoffending. Restores work aims to complement offending behaviour programmes already completed in the prison, not create further risks. Stuart carefully selects clients for the OPAC project to assess how committed they are to not reoffending.

Non-peer mentors need to be able to adapt to Footprints and Restore's ethos by working with mentees in an empowering, empathic and non-controlling way. Evidence of having being through some type of life changing event, which they have handled and come through successfully is considered a benefit by Restore as it usually means there will be some empathy to help in working with clients.

As many of the clients have complex health and social care needs, part of the mentors’ role is to support them to understand and take ownership of their own care needs, for example: seeking and maintaining treatment for disability and mental health issues. Restore gave an example of a relationship not working when matching someone with a terminal illness and severe mental health problems with a mentor who had previously been a mental health nurse. This was seen to be a good match. However, confusing the role of mentor as one of mental health ‘expert’ proved disempowering to the client. As Restore point out, "You can’t tell the client what

they can and can’t do ... especially when they are dying. If they don’t want to do something then they are not going to do it. We cannot have volunteers who work in that way, we are working from a self-empowerment model."

Induction training should provide volunteers with clarity about what their role is, the specific ways in which the OPAC project operates and the boundaries mentors need to work within before being matched. Their training programme is based on Clinks' Volunteering in the Community training as well as Mentoring and Befriending Foundation training. Training groups are kept small (6-10 maximum), allowing people to feel comfortable both during and after the training, which involves lots of role plays and group participation. Furthermore, during training mentors are introduced to a service user (sometimes a Restore member) who shares their experience of prison and mentoring to give them a personal insight into the issues.

Once mentors have been matched and have worked with a client for a two month probationary period, further advanced sessions which involve more in-depth practice focusing on listening skills and the cycle of change are offered. Every effort is made to ensure that clients are adequately trained to work with all Footprints clients and especially clients who are part of the OPAC project.

Topics are offered such as: substance misuse and medication; advanced mentor training; working with older offenders (delivered by Restore), well-being mental health and healthy lifestyle training, gender specific training for people mentoring women and training specifically for volunteers mentoring sexual offenders. On-going training is offered every quarter, which volunteers are encouraged to keep up with as part of their

Restore and Footprints

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on-going learning and personal development. Footprints told us that close supervision in the early stages of the matching is crucial, ensuring there is contact following every meeting between mentor and mentee.

Retention and continued engagement of volunteersFootprints indicated that most of their volunteers stay with them between one to three years. Monitoring information collected by Footprints using Clinks' Evaluating Volunteer Impact toolkit4 indicated that more than half have been with Footprints three years and over; a third have been there for one to two years and just 11% had joined within the last year. The main reason that volunteers do leave is because they move into paid employment and no longer have the time. Footprints see this as a positive move because they appreciate that many are coming to volunteer as a stepping stone and route into paid employment. As a large proportion of their volunteers are former offenders themselves, they support and encourage their personal development and moving on.

In the evaluation Footprints conducted, there were some respondents who felt that volunteering had definitely helped them in their ability to get paid employment, helping them develop self-confidence, improve their social and communication skills and their ability to work with others. Overall the feedback they received from volunteers was extremely positive, highlighting some of the reasons why they had kept coming back.

Perhaps one of the largest reasons that volunteers stay with the project for so long is because they have such varied and significant

4. Evaluating Volunteer Impact, Clinks 2012. www.clinks.org/vol-eval-kit

roles as mentors. Many OPAC clients are released from prison homeless and requiring emergency accommodation, sometimes as a priority because they have additional needs or are over the age of 70. In these cases mentors are working hard to get them into accommodation, liaising with Councils and other places such as local churches and the Salvation Army.

Where there are alcohol or substance misuse issues they are encouraging their mentee’s to attend Alcoholics (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings or engage with drug and alcohol services. For the volunteers we spoke to, involvement in their mentees recovery after prison and seeing the change that happened and their dignity reinstated was what kept them coming back. They spoke of the feeling of seeing clients change their lives, including sex offenders and older people who society thinks can’t change.

Footprints mentors work within a large geographical spread covering Poole, Bournemouth, Dorset and South Somerset. As a result, a lot of the contact between volunteers and Footprints occurs through email and phone. In order to provide further support, Footprints initiate regular peer mentor group meetings alongside their ongoing training programme. During peer mentor meetings volunteers get a chance to meet with other mentors and share a lunch together, which helps to maintain connections between the mentors and also with the wider project. They also find it is important in keeping mentors engaged, motivated and feeling a part of the organisation.

Despite the fact mentoring is immensely rewarding, it can also have its disappointments, especially when clients return to prison. It is important for the mentors to hear from other

Restore and Footprints

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volunteers that this is often a part of the mentee’s journey and not a result of anything they have or have not done. It is quite common that older prisoners being released after many years in prison find it difficult to reintegrate, some having spent most of their adult lives in and out of prison and becoming institutionalised. One client who was terminally ill asked to be returned to prison so he could spend his last few months with his friends inside, despite feeling supported by his mentor. It is situations like these when mentors need the support of staff and volunteers to continue and acknowledge that the work can be challenging.

It is clear that volunteers are a crucial part of the OPAC project and are valued by staff and service users alike and it’s important that this is communicated with them. Footprints told us the work done by volunteers is valued hugely by clients particularly because they are not part of statutory services, are unpaid (although encouraged to claim out of pocket expenses) and giving up 5-6 hours per week to help individuals who often have low self-esteem and a poor opinion of themselves.

Volunteers are not used to replace paid workers, rather it is felt that a combination of paid and unpaid staff is crucial to ensuring volunteers feel well supported and clients get the support that suits them best too. The following interviews below highlight just what volunteers and service users think of the service offered through OPAC.

Restore and Footprints

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10 Volunteer | John

I’ve been a volunteer mentor with Footprints/Restore for about three years now and in that time I’ve had six mentees.

At the moment I am mentoring two men. One is coming towards the end of mentoring and we now only meet once a month. The other mentee, I’ve been seeing for a month and we usually meet once a week. Mentoring takes up, on average, half a day of my time. I’ve mentored people for the OPAC project as well as for the wider Footprints mentoring service. So far I have been able to mentor a wide range of people. The thing that most, although not all of them have in common is that drugs and alcohol are at the heart of their stories.

My work as a mentor operates on two levels. Firstly I provide practical support around finding accommodation, writing letters and being an advocate in as much as I can be. The other level is around providing advice and good listening skills. I don’t mean advice in the sense of saying ‘you need to do this’ more in the sense of talking and listening to them and helping them to come to decisions themselves. I’m there to help and support them but not to run their lives. I don’t mean that to sound harsh; I do worry about people but it’s important to have firm boundaries in place.

Being a mentor can be difficult sometimes as many mentees come from a background of chaotic substance misuse and have entrenched behavioural issues. However, none of the problems I’ve had to work with have been deeply troubling to me. It does mean that sometimes you have to redefine success. For example, Colin a mentee I was working with had over 50 previous convictions and had been in and out of prison for years. During one of our sessions he acknowledged he’d been out of prison for 14 weeks and this was the longest time he’d been out for years! To someone else this might not seem like success but to him and me this was a huge achievement.

I try and use different approaches with people, trying to feel my way and appreciate that

SPOTLIGHT

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everyone’s an individual and will respond to some approaches better than others. Some people want you to challenge them and tell them where they’re going wrong, others don’t. I try and get to know each person as an individual. Being able to read them and find the appropriate language and approach that works with them is useful. That’s not to say that I haven’t got frustrated with some of the guys I’ve mentored.

One mentee in particular missed three consecutive meetings with me when I’d made a round trip of 30 miles to go and meet him. In this instance I talked to people at Footprints and said I think we have a problem, he’s not turning up at which point we had to say ‘we can’t help you if you don’t turn up’. But that doesn’t happen in most cases. The support and training that I get is very good. Jane and Jo are excellent at Footprints; they’re always there for me. I’ve been to a number of training days, including a session on older offenders and another on working with sex offenders. I try and report back to them on progress with mentees and when I hit a problem or a dilemma with someone I will always make a call and be confident that they can deal with it well.

I got involved in mentoring because I believe and hope that what I’m doing is helpful to people and that I’m doing something worthwhile. I get a lot out of mentoring myself. It feels important not only for the mentee but also for the victims and society in general. Some mentees are exceptionally appreciative of what I’m doing and for others I’m just another person they go to. It’s a human reaction to want to be appreciated but it shouldn’t be the only reason for becoming a mentor. I see what I do as a small drop in the ocean but I do feel that it’s helpful. Very often some of the people I work with haven’t got a million friends and the friends they do have aren’t necessarily the people you would choose for them. I hope that by being a steady source of support over a period of time, I can bring some consistency to their lives and support them in turning away from offending.

Andrew | Service user

‘A Day to Remember’April 11th 2011 was surreal because it was a day that began my future in the community. I woke up at 5.30ish, showered,

shaved and made sure that my cell was clean and tidy, ready for the next person to move into. I then made myself a coffee and went for a walk around the prison grounds from 7am just to gather my thoughts about what was about to happen. I don’t think my mind was ready to deal with the chaos about to happen. I even reread my parole answer just to absorb the words on the paper. Reading the words seemed to throw themselves at me because by the time I had read the paperwork it was time for breakfast. I sat in front of other cons and they were chatting about something, yet I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was only when they mentioned about me being released that it brought me back to earth.

I had done all the pre-release stuff I was meant to do, like make sure I had signed my licence, signed for my valuables and completed all the paperwork for the prison that I was about to leave after being there for almost two years. I treated the way I was doing things like I was leaving the prison system on ‘home leave’, which meant I had to return to the prison after a period of time, only this time was different ... I did not have to go back!

I got on the prison bus to the train station in Boston, Lincolnshire, heading for Weymouth via London’s Kings Cross and Waterloo Underground. It was all confusing and easy to get lost in the underground if you don’t know what to do or where to go. I went to the gents to collect my thoughts as I was pretty overwhelmed knowing that I didn’t have to go back to that system again.

After boarding the train to Weymouth from Waterloo I was relaxed enough to really think about what it was I was doing. I was heading for the hostel that I had home leaves from before, every month or so,

12 Andrew | Service user

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SPOTLIGHT

so I thought it would be straight forward. It wasn’t, because as soon as I arrived I was shepherded into the office and given the rules all over again and read the riot act should I stray from the licence conditions I was given by the Home Office / Parole Board and the Probation Service. Having spent almost two years in the prison I had left that morning, I was beginning to think I had entered another prison of a different kind, one in the community and I did not like being told I had to be in the hostel by 11 o'clock, to be alcohol tested daily and to report to my assigned Keyworker every week.

I got in contact with Restore and the OPAC project through the hostel I was in when I came out of prison. Stuart came to visit me and the relationship built up through that. Restore is a support network, so whenever I’m struggling physically or emotionally I can call Stuart and he will either pass the message on to one of two people who will come out to see me.

I had been in the hostel for seven months before I was told I could move to my own accommodation. Moving on from the hostel was so challenging, I began to wonder if it was worth it getting out of prison because it’s so easy to run away from things and hide. With the support I had from friends, family, Restore and the people in the hostel, staff and residents alike, I was confident enough to be able to do the things I needed to do to make my life comfortable. Restore helped me with the transition of moving from the hostel to the new place and also with the fuel costs. It makes me wonder what would have happened if I had no-one to help me other than the hostel people? The comfort of prison can be enticing.

The problem I have to endure today is my health as I have a degenerative disease in my spine and kidney disease both of which make my life that little bit more challenging. Climbing the stairs to my flat, when I need to go out and get food or attend council appointments hurts like hell. Restore have put me in touch with a qualified nurse who wants to help

ex-offenders settle into the community, specifically those with disabilities or difficulties physically and she’s a god send because she’s got so many resources open to her. If it wasn’t for Stuart putting me in contact with the nurse I don’t know what I would have done. She is helping me move from the flat I am currently in, to a place that is located on the ground floor, unfortunately it is more expensive to rent and live in but I need to put my health first.

Although I say that I had served almost two years in one prison, I had in actual fact served almost 25 years in total of a life sentence which began in 1986.During the time I’ve been out in the community, I’ve been feeling all sorts of emotions and to be honest I still find it hard to cope with a regime I am not familiar with. I sometimes wonder how people in the community who have not been in prison cope with the day to day chaos of things they take for granted and are not able to appreciate the small things in life? When I first came out I felt like a rabbit in headlights. It’s hard after spending time in prison after such a long time in there. I’ve already told my Offender Manager that if I’m going to end up back in prison it’s going to be for life. Not because I will hurt anyone, I just can’t go through that parole process again; I went through that 11 times. I have clinical depression and knowing that Restore is still there for me helps me from knocking on the prison door and saying let me back in’.”

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BackgroundKainos Community was established in 1997 and has been delivering rehabilitation programmes in prisons across the UK since then. Inspired by Christian values, their aim is to reduce reoffending and enable people to live purposeful lives in the community both inside prison and after release.

‘Challenge to Change’ is their flagship programme; targeted at medium to high risk prisoners. It combines cognitive behavioural therapy in taught sessions, together with the practice of living together in a community within prison. Each community is contained within a dedicated prison wing, enabling prisoners to focus on addressing their offending behaviour through class work, social interaction and community living and by practicing their new skills within their prison community.

The philosophy on the wing is to encourage and empower individuals to take responsibility for their own lives and be accountable for their actions. Prisoners run their own community meetings once a week, including chairing and taking minutes of the meetings where they discuss any issues, what they need to address as individuals and also as a group. Dedicated Challenge to Change Programmes have been set up in HMP The Verne in Dorset, HMP Swaleside in Kent and HMP Stocken in Rutland. From April 2013 Kainos will also be delivering a further two programmes in HMP Haverigg in Cumbria and HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset.

In 2010, Kainos extended their work to include a mentoring programme offering through-the-gate and specialist post release support for prisoners being released from Challenge to Change in HMP Stocken. The aims of the mentoring programme are to ensure that the changes in thinking, attitudes and behaviour

achieved whilst in prison are continued upon release. Kainos are setting up the same opportunities for graduates of Challenge to Change at HMP Haverigg in Cumbria and HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset when they begin to leave those prisons as graduates from October 2013.

This case study focuses on the resettlement arm of Challenge to Change, particularly in relation to volunteer recruitment, training and retention. It is done to highlight areas of good practice and the challenges associated with mentoring those who have been released from prison.

Kainos mentors Since 2010 Kainos have successfully recruited and trained 12 mentors to support men being released to the Midlands region. The volunteers are recruited, trained and supervised by Jeremy Butler, the Transition Manager.

Up until now Kainos have provided their own mentors. Since Kainos are now delivering programmes across the country they need to find partnerships that can help with mentoring on more of a national scale. They are currently in the process of identifying partners who will sign up to work with them in this way.

Kainos hope to achieve the objective set out in the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation agenda; a mentor for every prisoner leaving prison. They want to ensure that, where appropriate, every graduate of the Kainos Community leaves prison with a mentor and where they can’t provide that due to the location, they will utilise existing mentoring projects that can provide this service effectively on their behalf.

Mentors meet with clients pre-release to start developing a relationship and usually attend the first probation appointment with them,

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particularly if they don’t have any family to attend with them. They provide support to Kainos clients for up to two years after their release, although not all need support for that long.

Mentors work creatively with their mentees responding to what their particular needs are. They could be helping a mentee to source clothing cheaply (or for free) because they have been released from prison with very little clothing. They may also assist their mentee’s to obtain a birth certificate and other sources of identification so that they can register with GP’s, make benefits claims and open bank accounts. Kainos stated that mentors all share a ‘can do’ attitude, often going over and above what is expected of them in order to make a difference in the lives of people who have significant hurdles to overcome when they are released from prison.

Recruitment, selection and training of volunteersThe inspiration of Christian faith and values has driven Kainos in its development over the 14 years of its existence and still very much motivates the leadership of the organisation. The fundamental drive of its work, both within prison and the community, is a resolute belief that everyone is capable of change given the right support and circumstances. Kainos firmly believes that the inspiration of Christian values brings something special to the project because it provides a firm and determined foundation to the focus of the organisation. This ensures that Kainos holds true to its values in a fast changing environment with inevitable funding challenges.

In terms of volunteer recruitment, the Christian ethos of Kainos unsurprisingly attracts people of similar motivation. However, it is equally true that a significant proportion of their staff, volunteers

and mentors commit to their ethos and values whilst not coming from a Christian perspective themselves. Kainos aim to be inclusive of people who want to volunteer. As Kainos told us, "We’re only interested in stopping the cycle of reoffending, not about what someone’s religious beliefs are." Kainos do not ask people to record their ‘faith base’ but estimate that across all their volunteers (both inside and outside prison) 75% are of Christian faith and of their staff team, around 60% are of Christian faith.

Kainos actively recruit volunteers from local churches as well as more widely from the local community. When they know which area of the country they need mentors recruiting from, they will be out in the community doing an analysis of the area, searching out local organisations and churches and putting out fliers.

If they have interest from particular organisations or groups they will go along to talk about the project. They have also assisted local church groups and community organisations by running training days about how the Kainos project works and have been able to recruit volunteers through these events. Their volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of skills from whatever profession they have worked in. Kainos are really keen to involve former offenders and Kainos graduates as mentors on the project and hope that this will be achieved in the next year.

Volunteers who are selected receive two days training. The first day gives them the opportunity to go inside the prison and see the programme first hand. Kainos believes this is good practice as mentors need to understand the programme delivered in prison and what the Kainos community is all about. They can meet the prisoners, prison staff, and Kainos staff and see the whole surroundings.

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Kainos told us that the prison environment is also a useful gauge to determine if people are suitable for the role and how well they are able to respond to the client group. Kainos need volunteers with firm boundaries who are not going to compromise themselves and the organisation. There have been occasions when Kainos have turned people down or individuals have deselected themselves following this training session because they do not feel they are suitable for the role. Kainos do not feel it is wasted time when this happens because it is crucial to get the right people for the role.

If the training day is successful then volunteers get a second training day later on at a suitable venue close to where they live. This training goes into more detail about the role of mentor and the guidelines they need to work within as Kainos mentors. Their programme has gained Approved Provider Status from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF) with the training programme based upon MBF training.

Retention and continued engagement of volunteersOf the twelve volunteers Kainos have trained, seven of them are still actively engaged as mentors with the project and have been with the organisation between 1-3 years. Jeremy Butler, (the Transition Manager) provides one-to-one support to volunteers, although group meetings with two or three volunteers are also conducted in a suitable location, depending on where the volunteers live. The project has volunteers from a range of areas – including Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton – making it a challenge to get volunteers in one place at the same time on a regular basis. Running smaller volunteer support groups and one-to-one sessions with volunteers is the approach taken by Kainos.

Kainos understand the importance of ensuring that volunteers feel well supported, connected to the organisation and the project. Although it is difficult to get all mentors together at one time, they organise an event at least once a year, which all mentors are invited to.

Kainos recognises there are challenges to retaining volunteers, particularly if they are not being used effectively after they have been trained. This is why Kainos have primarily focused their mentoring around the Midlands areas where many Kainos clients are being released from Stocken prison. This is also the reason why Kainos have recruited a relatively small number of mentors. They acknowledge that they could have recruited double the amount of mentors but see it as counter-productive if they have already been able to cover the main areas and use a network of external organisations for other areas.

Kainos conduct quarterly reviews with both mentors and mentees where there is usually always positive feedback about the mentoring relationship for Kainos to feedback to the mentors. Although mentors are usually aware of the positive impact of the mentoring relationship on their mentees, it is encouraging for them to hear this from the project and helps to keep them motivated and coming back.

Clients are hugely appreciative of the support they get from Kainos and their mentors, particularly because they are not getting paid (although some volunteers do claim volunteer expenses). Mentors are responding creatively to the needs of their mentees in a way that demonstrates care and compassion. The case studies below highlight this particularly well.

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16 Volunteer | Lawson

I got involved with Kainos in 2010 when it was first being set up. I was approached by Jeremy to get involved as a mentor. Jeremy

was familiar with a charity I set up called Zaccheus, a Christian project in Worksop for people with drug and alcohol issues. We run a weekly evening drop in service that provides information, support, food and refreshments in a social environment.

In my role as mentor with Kainos, I work on building a relationship with the client before they are released from prison. I go into the prison to visit them and also meet them when they are released on temporary licence. We go for a ‘through the gate’ breakfast together on that first day out. Breakfast is very important as it helps create a positive start to the relationship as the first meeting outside of prison can be challenging.

I work closely with probation, sometimes going to probation meetings with clients. I also use my local connections and networks to help them find volunteering roles. I’ve lived in the area for 20 years and know a lot of people. I’ve been lucky to have been employed for 40 years and now have the time to give back and work towards improving the local community. I think the key to being a good mentor is networking; being able to build up a really good sound, network and not thinking you can do it all on your own.

With one of my mentee’s, Stephen, we would meet up at the Zaccheus drop in centre whilst he was doing voluntary work there, helping to do food preparation. We would also meet up a couple of times during the week for a coffee, I would help him with goal setting and working towards those goals. I would see him for around maybe four – five hours a week for six months. Probation officers are limited in the amount of time they can spend with clients to around 20 minutes a week. Kainos mentors can give intensive mentoring for 4-5 hours a week. Once the time with probation is up, that’s it, whereas with Kainos the support can carry on if they want it to. Stephen decided to finish the mentoring

after six months but we have remained in touch and now meet up less regularly on an informal basis.

Stephen was so committed and couldn’t do enough. He was totally sold on rehabilitation, grabbing hold of it with both hands. People have to be ready to change. The guys who do the Challenge to Change programme and invest their time into it, that’s when they get the results. Stephen’s done that, investing his time into his future and that’s why he’s got where he is today. Local police were so impressed with him that they pushed for him to get decent accommodation by working together with the local housing team. That’s what’s great about multi-agency working; you can achieve so much more.

I get a real buzz out of seeing people being restored to life and realising their full potential. I like to see them getting out of the revolving door. People can actually draw a line in the sand, and become a tax payer. It’s not all about getting a job and paying taxes though, that’s not the be all and end all. It’s about them being able to maximise their potential and having the capacity to change and move forward. It’s brilliant to see people giving back and helping other people in the same way they were helped to get their lives back on track. One guy I mentored in the past is now a drugs worker and another now a rehab manager.

It can be challenging when clients drop off and you’re left wondering why but you have to dust yourself down and let them know that you’re still there to support them. I’m always prepared to go the extra mile for someone. The saddest thing is seeing people wasting their lives when there is a tremendous amount of support out there for them. I do think the voluntary sector can achieve more success than the statutory sector because there’s less bureaucracy, but often they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Kainos is a brilliant organization. I know the team that works in the prison and they are totally dedicated to changing lives. There needs to be more money put in from government to support projects such as Kainos that really do challenge people to change their lives.

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17Stephen | Kainos graduate

I first became involved with Kainos when I was in prison and started the Challenge to Change programme. I was on the

Kainos prison wing for around 18 months. At first the staff on the wing are sussing you out to see if you’re in the right place and frame of mind to do the course. If they don’t think you are then they won’t start you on the course; you have to show you’re committed first. You get so much support while you’re there though, especially when you’re struggling and when you’re feeling down.

Every Thursday evening, trained Kainos volunteers came into the prison, which gave us the opportunity to mix with people who weren’t in prison and to get used to talking about real life. Definitely though, the best thing about being involved with Kainos has been having my mentor Lawson. If I hadn’t met Lawson I would be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no friends as when I came out of prison I had to relocate. Lawson has introduced me to a different social network, one which I wouldn’t have had access to before. He’s a pretty well connected guy; he knows lots of people in the local community. I’ve now been out of prison for fifteen months and even though I’ve finished the six month mentoring, I still see Lawson informally. Lawson has helped me with moving to a completely new area. He’s helped me get to things like job interviews and helped me get a reference by giving me the opportunity to work in the soup kitchen at Zaccheus. It’s really hard at first because it seems as though no-one wants to give you a reference or to give you the opportunity to do voluntary work to get a reference!

The support I’ve received from Kainos and Lawson has helped me stay positive. Early on, I applied for and was offered a job but then told that they couldn’t take me due to a conviction for firearms. I’d been honest about it but they had missed it on the application form. When they realised they retracted their employment offer. This was a real blow which really affected me. I got so angry and thought ‘what’s

the point? I’m never going to get anywhere’. Lawson really helped me though. He gave me the space to think things through myself but also gave me the right amount of support. He didn’t smother me and he talked to me in a way that was sensible and not just hot air. Since then I have been successful in getting another job and am currently applying for other jobs. I try not to let things get me down for long and stay proactive about getting back out there.

The support provided by volunteers is special because it shows that it’s more personal and makes you look at the support differently. If someone’s getting paid then it’s just a job and it may not be something they want to do. Whereas with a volunteer you know that they’re doing it because they want to and they feel passionate about helping you. The support I’ve received from Kainos has been brilliant. Although they’re a Christian based organisation they haven’t forced Christianity on me, which is good because I’m Jewish, not Christian. I think the support should be available to more people in more prisons than the five they’re currently in. I’m 32 now and have been in and out of secure units and prisons since I was 13. I’ve done prison service courses in the past and they haven’t worked because I felt forced to do them, whereas with the Challenge to Change course I was doing it because I really did want to change. The prison courses to me were about ticking boxes whereas Challenge to Change has taught me how to carry myself in a different way.

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Useful links

Clinks links

Clinks website A wide range of resources for voluntary organisations working with offenders and their families.

Clinks Volunteering page Clinks’ new work on volunteering is posted on this page.

Clinks Evaluating Volunteering Impact toolkit Clinks has developed a set of evaluation tools for volunteering projects run by VCS organisations working around the Criminal Justice System.

Clinks Volunteering Guides Clinks has published a series of guides designed to support organisations in their day-to-day work with offenders. The guides have been developed with the expertise of Volunteering England, Charities Evaluation Services, and the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation. Targeted at those who involve volunteers, or provide mentoring and befriending services to offenders and ex-offenders, these guides are designed to support any organisation whether they are already established or just setting up. The guides are:

Service user involvementWritten by service users, this guide provides a structured and accessible introduction to involving offenders and ex-offenders in your work, including examples of good practice, checklists and signposting to further information and support.

Setting up a projectThis helps support organisations who are setting up a mentoring or befriending project to work with offenders and ex-offenders. The guide goes through the different elements that need to be considered when planning for a new service and gives interesting case studies of organisations working with offenders and ex-offenders.

Managing volunteersA guide for organisations working with offenders and ex-offenders use volunteers well. There is a lot of good practice in the Criminal Justice System of involving volunteers. However, there is also inconsistency in the way that volunteers are recruited, managed and reimbursed.

Demonstrating effectivenessThis guide aims to support organisations working with offenders and ex-offenders to demonstrate their effectiveness. The guide goes through the different steps that need to be considered when planning to demonstrate effectiveness with a particular focus on when volunteers are contributing to the delivery of a service.

Quality standardsA guide to help support organisations working with offenders and ex-offenders to gain an external quality standard for their work with offenders, ex-offenders, or their families. This guide explains what external quality standards are, why you would consider getting one, and then goes through the quality standards that are currently available and allows the reader to select which one is best for their organisation.

Volunteer peer supportThe purpose of this guide is to support Voluntary and Community Sector organisations and other agencies and stakeholders in the Criminal Justice System to deliver quality peer-to-peer services for people in custody, those released from prison and people serving community sentences.

Trustees & board membersThis guide has been written in response to requests from trustees looking for basic information about the Criminal Justice System and links to good practice around the roles and responsibilities taken on by trustees. The guide sets out to provide an introduction to the Criminal Justice System and provide information which is relevant to the needs of trustees.

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19Useful links

Other volunteering linksVolunteering England Volunteering England is an independent charity and membership organisation committed to supporting, enabling and celebrating volunteering in all its diversity. Their work links policy, research, innovation, good practice and programme management in the involvement of volunteers.

Do-It Do-It is a volunteering website which enables users to search for real-time volunteering opportunities. With their partners at volunteer centres and voluntary organisations across the country they aim to make sure that those who want to volunteer can do so quickly and easily.

CSV CSV enables people of all ages and backgrounds reap the benefits of putting something back through volunteering. Through their learning and training facilities, thousands of young people and adults develop new skills, build their confidence and improve their job prospects.

EvidenceInstitute for Volunteering Research The Evidence Bank is home to all of IVR's publicly available research. It is an easy-to-use searchable database of our research, reports, bulletins, publications and journal articles.

Exploring Volunteering This blog contains in-depth discussion of the development and history of volunteering in the UK.

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