West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project

 

The Justice and Peace Commission has been involved with the setting up of this new inter-faith project which works with ex-offenders leaving HMP Prison Leeds.

WYCCP aims to help prisoners who are being released from prison to assimilate their place in the community. It is our belief that in doing so their quality of life will be improved and that the community will be a safer place for all. It is also our belief that local faith communities have an integral part to play in this process.

The West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project is a charitable organisation, company limited by guarantee, which aims to reduce re-offending rates for prisoners leaving Her Majesty’s Prison Leeds to reside in Yorkshire region, using a specialist team, existing relevant agencies and proactively involving multi faith communities.

The Aims of the Project

  • Develop and establish a team of community chaplains and specialist support workers to provide support and advice for ex-prisoners released from HMP Leeds
  • Develop a network of contacts within the local faith communities from which volunteers will be sought.
  • Actively seek and develop partnerships with existing providers of resettlement support in order to provide a holistic and comprehensive package of support for prisoners leaving HMP Leeds.
  • Establish a pilot in the Leeds area in 2005 and extend into Bradford and Kirklees in 2005/2006.

Objectives

To promote, for the benefit of the public in Yorkshire and The Humber, the provision of services for the care and resettlement of offender, and those at risk of offending, and their families and dependant, either alone or in co-operation with any body, authority or person in connection with any methods of the prevention of crime and social exclusion.

To further and promote the study and research into all aspects and methods of the prevention of crime, social exclusion and delinquency and to obtain, make records of and disseminate information concerning the same.

Background Information

The West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project is a new organisation that has emerged from the multi-faith chaplaincy in HMP Leeds and will be the first multi-faith community chaplaincy project in the UK. The Project’s board of trustees consists of representatives from a wide range of faith communities which are reflected in the prison population.

We are establishing a support and mentoring service for prisoners leaving HM Prison Leeds to live in West Yorkshire. The project seeks to reduce the likelihood of re-offending for the men we work with and thus contribute to building safer communities in West Yorkshire. We will work alongside other providers of resettlement support, but will target repeat offenders who have failed to settle in the community after previous prison sentences. A distinctive feature of the project is that our volunteers will be drawn from faith communities and will thus be able to access additional support networks on behalf of ex-prisoners.

Similar projects have been established elsewhere and have proved successful in reducing the rates of re-offending amongst those supported; however, this is the first multi-faith scheme and has arisen out of the thriving multi-faith chaplaincy which operates within the prison in Leeds. Many of those with whom we will work will have accessed services through the chaplaincy prior to release and will therefore be aware of the multi-faith approach we will provide. We have consulted with prisoners about the kind of services they would find helpful on release. We have also consulted with faith communities to establish the likely level of support for the project.

Needs vary from prisoner to prisoner, but consultation and research undertaken has highlighted the following concerns: Accommodation, Benefits Advice, Personal financial advice, Employment, Drug and Alcohol rehabilitation, Fitting back into the local community

Multi-Faith Ethos

  • Each spirituality will be respected on its own terms, including those that do not have a religious connection.
  • We recognise that each faith community, as well as those with spiritual and secular motivation, is an integral part of society.
  • We acknowledge that each faith brings values and understanding that contribute to the care and support of disadvantaged members of our society.
  • We are aware that where faith communities work together they generate spirituality beyond the individual faiths.
  • Co-operative work encourages faith communities to achieve results that are proportionately greater than those of individual groups. Consequently motivation is grounded in individual and community respect, all benefit.
  • There is evidence to support that relationships formed between ex-offenders and faith communities will be of help and benefit to the faith communities, prisoners, their families and society as a whole.

 

Career Opportunities:

Volunteer Support Workers

Could you donate a few hours a week to help an ex-offender with form-filling, life skills or just support someone in improving their life after prison?

We offer training and support to our volunteers as well as the opportunity to gain new skills, help others and improve the quality of life for everyone.

For further information contact Cliff Challenger (Volunteer Co-ordinator) at the West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project. Chantry House, Victoria Road , Kirkstall, Leeds , LS5 2JB. Tel 0113-203-6953. E.mail cliff.challenger@wyccp.org.uk

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