We have an opportunity to get in touch and interview some people involved with the turnaround project.
Did you have an opportunity to prepare for your release?
Did your release have any positive/negative impact on your health? Follow with: Were you able to access healthcare?
Upon release, were you provided with updated government identification, Like a passport, or ID. Or were you left to navigate those agencies independently? You mentioned getting your bank account back?
If you could add one specific service to the re-entry process that currently doesn't exist, what would it be?
How did you find out about the turnaround project?
What was it like to join the turnaround project?
How has the project helped you?
Have you faced any technology/ digital barriers?
What is something you needed that was not provided?
Were you provided with support contacts? Did you attempt to contact them? Were you able to get support? Was it helpful?
So I conducted the interview, I of course was way out of my depth, But this was too important for me to brush off, So as a group we worked on questions and such before hand and prepared. The interview was done in person, and to me it really opened my eyes with prison life and release, I don’t want to sharwhat they were in for but just knowing some of the struggles they had really broke my heart.
I think the things that got at me the most was the struggle of getting a valid ID, the lack of pay from Jobs afterwards, the lack of support being released. It was just a bit sad for me, something I take for granted and all.
I spoke to my group after and they shared their notes from the interview. I also got a transcript from the interview which I’ll share here, A lot of it may be nonsense but I went through and corrected it with gemini, It is a wall of text and it may not be accurate, but if you were curious here it is
Richard: To help this make sense: some people here don’t want to work in grounds maintenance, or we can’t provide that opportunity because we don’t have space. In other cases, if we think someone is more ready to transition into external employment, we support them in applying for jobs. For example, on Thursday mornings, we hold a skills hub where people prepare for interviews, fill in application forms, and put together CVs. Staff from Version 1 (an IT company) also come in to help with IT skills, particularly for people who have served longer sentences and find that the world and technology look very different now.
So, that is our big new employment strand. We also run a programme called 'Equipping People'. This is a broad term for a range of activities, from one-to-one support—asking, "What do you want to achieve? What are your goals, and how can we help?"—through to more structured programmed activities. We are currently running a pre-release programme in Magilligan Prison called 'Release Ready' to help people think through what life will look like upon release and the challenges they might face.
This year, we also ran a leadership programme across the island of Ireland for people already in employment or committed volunteering roles, helping them move on within those organisations. Additionally, on Tuesdays, we have a hub here where people can share their stories, discuss what’s working for them, and talk about the challenges they face. We invite other organisations to talk about their work, giving people a sense of what other support is out there.