Muslim Young Offenders Mentoring

 

Muslim Young Offenders Mentoring Programme

Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH), Business in the Community (BITC) and Mosaic are launching a new project to provide focused support and mentoring opportunities to Muslim prisoners around the vulnerable period of transition from prison back to society.

Muslims constitute nearly 12% of the male and female prison population, almost 4 times their representation in the total population, with some 10,000 Muslims in custody on remand or serving custodial sentences. There is growing evidence of the particularly acute difficulties faced by Muslim prisoners returning to mainstream society given the social stigma and, as a consequence, their vulnerability to negative influences.

The Commitment

"There are very real issues facing those returning to mainstream society after time in prison. We need to help these individuals lead productive lives in the future, rather than falling prey to negative influences. This exciting project aims to provide opportunities for successful people to support members of their communities at a time when they are most need of the support of their community. I urge you to get involved." Iqbal Wahhab, Founder of Roast Restaurant and Mosaic Board Member

This programme will support 16-25 year-old offenders at the end of their custodial sentence, providing them with a trained mentor to support them through the difficult transition back into society and, particularly, the workplace. The project will operate in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Leicester. The programme aims to provide support for some 50 prisoners in the first year, building to around 100 prisoners each year by the third year of the programme. Of these, we will seek to place at least half on Ready for Work programme

Mentors will start by visiting the client in prison in order to gain trust and a better understanding of the client's needs and help prepare them for release. Following release, mentors will continue to support the client through the provision of emotional support, seeking workplace opportunities and general support around housing, education and related issues.

Ready For Work

Crucially, the mentoring arrangement will link into Business in the Community's ‘Ready for Work' programme. Ready for Work is an established, business-led, work placement programme aimed at helping socially excluded groups gain and sustain employment. It combines a two-day employability based training course, a structured two-week work placement and up to six months of individual support from a job coach.

We are working closely with Her Majesty's Prison Service, Muslim chaplains and others in the field to ensure we deliver a programme that meets the needs of prisoners at the same time as ensuring effective support for those undertaking mentoring of this vulnerable group.

If you are interested in participating as a mentor in this project, please contact Julian Yorke julian.yorke@bitc.org.uk for further information.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for me to help make a difference to people in the way they need. I know that this will be challenging but incredibly rewarding." Shareefa Choudhury, Head of Communications Africa Directorate at the Department for International Development

The Statistics

As of April 2008, the number of Muslim prisoners in prisons in England and Wales on remand was 1,662, and the number of Muslim prisoners under immediate custodial sentence was 7,340, representing 2% and 9% respectively of the total prison population (82,319).

Each re-offender costs the state £200,000 in terms of their offences, being processed through the justice system, and all of the other associated costs.

A recent survey by Muslim Youth Helpline revealed that 30% of Muslim prisoners felt that the Muslim community could have played a better role in keeping them out of prison. The same survey revealed that:

- 63% of re-offenders did not find the support they needed upon leaving prison the first time; and,

- 82% of re-offenders felt quite or very strongly that faith-sensitive, community support upon exiting prison would have prevented them from re-offending.

There was nearly unanimous support in the same survey to the question asking whether prisoners would support a prison mentoring programme.