Beyond Recovery has been awarded a ‘Covid-19 Response Grant’ by Clinks, the organisation that supports the voluntary sector working with people in the criminal justice system. The grant will enable the social enterprise to continue its work with HMP Onley in Warwickshire, while restrictions relating to the Covid-19 crisis continue.
Pivoting swiftly
When lockdown was announced back in March, Beyond Recovery responded quickly by adapting its services almost overnight. Jacqueline Hollows and her team realised they could no longer go into prison to deliver their insight-based wellbeing programmes face-to-face, so looked for a creative solution. This resulted in the production of weekly Activity Packs and writing letters to support people in prison remotely.
More recently (and with the requisite personal protective equipment and social distancing measures in place) members of the team have resumed some prison visits. The purpose is to have one-to-one conversations with those individuals who are most vulnerable and in need of support.
Remote delivery
Since the Covid-19 crisis began, Beyond Recovery has been working tirelessly to create a Remote Service for prison. This has included the development of impactful and engaging self-study materials. The Clinks grant will enable the team – including Jacqueline and facilitators Alan Milledge and Dave Robinson – to pilot the new service at HMP Onley, where it has been running face-to-face programmes for five years.
This new initiative has been approved for delivery at HMP Onley via the Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) which supports HMPPS’ Covid-19 National Framework. It is a significant step for both HMP Onley and Beyond Recovery, as prison services are in the earliest stages of being resumed after the easing of full lockdown restrictions.
Vicki Laithwaite, Custodial Manager at HMP Onley, stated: ‘HMP Onley is in approval with this new initiative and appreciates the continued support from Beyond Recovery during this unprecedented time.”
Jacqueline Hollows commented: ‘As members of Clinks, we are thrilled to receive this grant from them and grateful for their ongoing support. We are also excited to be piloting our new Remote Service at HMP Onley. Having continued to support the most vulnerable people in the prison since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, we can now continue to do so while helping the prison move safely towards resuming a more normal service.”
For more information about Clinks and to view Beyond Recovery’s listing on the Clinks Directory, click here.
(Image: Jacqueline Hollows, Beyond Recovery founder, with newly appointed facilitator, Dave Robinson)
