Annual Review 2009 - Nacro

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Nacro
Annual Review 2008/09
Key facts and stats
Nacro provided a resettlement service in
36 prisons in England and Wales, helping
16 ,000 prisoners
Colm Mangan, Nacro housing information,
advice and support worker
‘A chance. That’s what Nacro and the new
resettlement centre at HMP Chelmsford give
these guys. We work very closely with all
the other agencies here and refer prisoners
to them, if they have mental health issues or
want some training, for example.
‘Grahame is brilliant: he frees me up to
get on with my work finding prisoners
somewhere to live when they get out. He’ll
ask them things like why they can’t go back
to their old address or to fill out a housing
application to the council. It’s good he’s
using his skills and education to help others.
‘I’m new to this job: I worked in the prison
service for seven years and was a prison
officer on the wings for five. So I have a
good understanding of the prisoners and
their needs. This means I can find the best
possible information for them and help them
to move on. It’s challenging; there’s lots of
red tape, waiting for decisions and strict
criteria prisoners have to meet.
‘Housing advice is a vital part of resettling
ex-prisoners. When they’ve got a roof over
their head they have a sense of security.
They tend to be motivated and get off down
the job centre rather than reoffend. At the
end of the day it’s up to them to keep a
tenancy and I help them to understand that.’
We trained 277people, including 81
prisoners, to provide resettlement advice
to prisoners
28% of enquiries to our mental health
unit’s information service were from family
members concerned about prisoners’
mental health
96% of prisoners seen by Nacro at
HMP Stoke Heath were discharged into
permanent accommodation
Find out more
about Nacro’s
work in prisons at
www.nacro.org.uk