Week 1

The first session is on a cold spring afternoon and having gathered outside the prison gate we file through security checking in our id and then gather in the waiting area – introducing ourselves to the one new team member.  We probably all recall that slight nervousness on the first time we joined the course.  I wonder if G feels it?

As we make our way through the prison all is quiet – a post lunch lock up means that the wings are empty and, today, quiet.  Down D wing to the Faith room at the end which is set up for us. 

As a team we have 45 minutes or so to prepare which involves agreeing team pairings and running through the order for the afternoon so everyone knows what to expect.  It also involves each team member thinking a little about what they will say in their introduction to themselves….quite daunting for the volunteers as much as for the men.

Around 1.50 we are aware of footsteps and voices approaching – echoing down the wing and the clunking of keys in locks.  There are three gates to unlock in the immediate approach to the room we are in so it is impossible to arrive unannounced!  T the Chaplain comes in and checks we are ready – we scramble the last few bits and pieces – a warm up activity needs a page of A4 to be placed under each chair and a welcome booklet and pen on each chair.  And the door opens to an assorted group of 19 (one seems not to be available and it transpires he has an immigration hearing so may, in fact, not be able to do the course) and I feel at a disadvantage this time not having been able to meet so many of the group.

I shake hands with many and write name labels enquiring first names of men who are much more used to giving surnames. 

As they take their chairs quick last minute conversations take place about one or two – there is a late addition to the list, one who has an unavoidable visit in 45 minutes and a query over the immigration issue. 

Time to kick the session off – it’s now down to me to create the right atmosphere – to welcome the men I haven’t met before.  They look uncertain – I feel uncertain!

The warm up goes well and I then spell out a few key issues – confidentiality, respect, how the sessions will work and what we expect.  Then, having played around with words – crime, prison, justice and restorative we think about the practical steps we take if we want to restore an object – someone suggests a car and we imagine a classic Bentley…..great ideas from the group help us to map out a strategy and I suggest that may be sorting out messed up lives might bear some similarities.  When we thought about restoring the car the important thing was that we had motivation – we would  have a picture in our minds of what the car would look like restored: do the men have a picture in their minds of what their life would look like restored?

We then leap into the deep end with a direct and personal introduction – all of us in a circle – saying what brings us there.  In theory the men are not allowed to say it is because the course is on their sentence plan – they have to explain why that might be the case. Some have come voluntarily, some say straight up why they are in prison, some share thoughts about family.  It is very unusual in a prison context to reveal anything personal but this start to the course sets the tone, it underlines how seriously we take the course and that we expect our commitment to them to be matched by their commitment to the course.

I explain why I am still here tutoring this course after six years – because unlike when we started I can now say from personal experience that I know this works: I know Sycamore Tree graduates who are still out of prison: like “Brian” released three years ago and still out of prison.  Brian is reunited with his family, in his own flat, taking an increasingly important role in his daughter’s life, holding down a job , and as he said recently, even paying tax and buying a TV licence – the ultimate sign of a successful restoration of a life from one of addiction and crime for many years. 

The introduction works: we are on common ground and the men know where we are coming from so that, as I send them off into the groups they will be in through the course, the conversations get underway easily and at the end of the afternoon all the groups are positive about “their” men!

In the second half of the afternoon we explore the mind-set of an offender through a familiar passage from Luke’s Gospel – the story of Zacchaeus (we call him Zac) the tax collector – wonderfully remote from the experiences of all of the offenders with us but often quoted and used as a example of a restorative response to crime.   After hearing the story and considering its context the men are asked to put themselves into the mindset of Zac and to think about the people in their community they have been taking money from and about themselves.  The responses always surprise: Zac’s victims are seen merely as cash cows, stupid, pathetic people who get what they deserve.  Zac as the Big Man, the Boss but, then it seems Zac too has some problems: he struggles with loneliness, not having true friends and from the paranoia and isolation that his abuse of power brings. 

We part at 4.30 on a high having run through the work they will need to do before the next session   – some of the guys are meticulous about their thanks, shaking all our hands and chatting animatedly as they leave – and we all feel a real surge of enthusiasm already for a positive afternoon and engaged group.