‘Believe in second chances’ – this is my biggest takeaway from my Leadership-in-Action project this summer with Trailblazers Mentoring. As an international student who is also spending her third year on exchange, I decided to complete my LiA project in London to explore pressing local issues I may not have encountered in the past two years.
Some Context
This summer, the UK was faced with its biggest prison overcrowding crisis yet, and I have been honoured to work with Trailblazers Mentoring, a charity that works in prisons across London and the Midlands, to alleviate the burden from ex-offenders during these uncertain times. Their aim is to reduce reoffending and promote rehabilitation among offenders by providing through-the-gate mentoring, starting from 3 to 6 months prior to their release, until 1 year after their release. While my time with Trailblazers is not sufficient to complete a whole mentorship programme, I assisted in other capacities to recruit more volunteers and gather resources for this small charity.
My project with Trailblazers consists of three main parts:
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Shadowing charity staff in two London prisons, HMP Brixton and HMPYOI Isis, where they gave me a tour of the establishment and provided insights into the prison regime. At the same time, I completed risk assessments for potential mentees and sat in interviews with them.
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Rebranding their social media page by creating useful templates for future use, content to introduce Trailblazers and a multimedia social media campaign for the National Volunteers’ Week.
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Researching organisations that provide support in Finance, Benefits and Debt to collate a partner referral network for the charity.
Here are some of my social media products:
Introduction to Trailblazers Mentoring:
Volunteers recruitment posts:
National Volunteers' Week Campaign:
Appreciating the third sector
Working with Trailblazers Mentoring made me realise how underfunded charities can be in the UK. Due to the lack of resources, the services they provided were limited and only essential staff could be hired. This means that secondary work like social media is not managed by a specialist. Volunteering with them allowed me to provide skills and expertise in creating social media designs, while also providing a long-term solution by teaching them how to use certain templates and colour palettes for the future. Additionally, research on potential partners is key for them to be able to advise mentors on signposting mentees to access relevant services beyond Trailblazer’s expertise.
Despite the limited resources, the staffs there remain dedicated to achieve their mission. Their work in reducing reoffending is crucial to a functioning criminal justice system that is not hindered by issues like overcrowding. Yet, they (along with a number of charities working within prisons) receive little recognition from the public.
Committing crimes: a problem with the individual or the system?
I spoke to some rehabilitated offenders in HMP Brixton working at the National Prison Radio. They were friendly, witty, and curious – they were people who I would never recognise as offenders if I had met them in public. It showed the power and possibility of successful rehabilitation, it showed one’s deservedness for a second chance. No one is inherently a criminal, it was their experiences that led them to prison, which typically involved the failure of the system, including the lack of housing, education, and social care.
A recent policy demonstrated the short-sightedness in the official’s approach towards social issues – the Early Release Scheme. This temporary fix on overcrowding ignores the implications of an unprepared release, where prisoners are likely to be released into homelessness (hence much more likely to re-offend), and charity services are disrupted – an offender expected to be released in three months may in reality be released in two weeks, allowing insufficient time for mentoring to take effect.
While the third sector is pulling its weight to make society fairer and more functional, it struck me how easily their efforts can be reversed.
Being an ethical leader
My experience working with Trailblazers has inspired me in many ways: their commitment to the mission charmed me; their inherent motivation unhindered by external recognition is admirable. Most importantly, the current interaction between the public and the third sector serves as an important reminder to listen and collaborate in tackling complex problems, as neither of them is dispensable.