Fiona Bruce MP lobbies Prisons Minister on Cheshire Restorative Justice in Project
On Monday 9th December Fiona Bruce MP hosted an event she organised for over one hundred people including MPs, Members of the House of Lords, the Minister for Prisons (Jeremy Wright MP), prison officers, prison governors, charity workers and volunteers to discuss Restorative Justice.
Fiona Bruce MP commented:
“I was delighted to host such a powerful and moving here in Parliament. I was inspired to organise this event following various visits I have made to Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute in Cheshire and seeing the Sycamore Tree Restorative Justice Programme run by the Prison Fellowship in action. The impact of this programme is astounding. It is a six week course which is run in around a third of prisons around the UK and most prisons have a waiting list of more than a year for inmates to get a place on the course.”
Fiona continued:
“The program demands real commitment and engagement from offenders, who are enabled by volunteer facilitators to explore the emotional and practical impact of their crime. Prisoners learn there is no suhc thing as a victimless crime. The offenders meet a victim of crime and hear the story from a victim’s perspective, before being invited to take part in a “symbolic act of restitution,” which includes offenders writing letters of apology to their victims, their family and society.”
The Minister, Jeremy Wright MP, speaking at the event, said:
“Fourteen months ago I knew very little about restorative justice, but the more I learnt, the more interested I became….it’s most important that victims of crime have access to it…restorative justice has the capacity to change lives for the victim and the persecutor, to turn people around from the wrong path to the right path.”
Fiona Bruce MP chaired the discussion at the event. The panel was made up of Prison Fellowship’s Penny Parker, Ian Telfer (Governor, HMP Gartree,) Rev Shawn Verhey (Chaplain, HMP YOI Thorn Cross), and Will Brown, a former inmate at HMP Wandsworth.
Penny Parker from the Prison Fellowship commented:
“It is remarkable to see the difference the Sycamore Tree programme makes in the lives of men and women in prisons and we are wanting to extend this to every prison in the country. We are enormously appreciative of everything Fiona Bruce is doing to bring this to the attention of the Minister for Prisons and we are very much hoping some of the recently released £29 million of funding for Restorative Justice can be obtained by the Prison Fellowship for this purpose. We believe that Sycamore Tree is a powerful and effective tool and can be used to spread the impact of Restorative Justice throughout our prisons.”
Quote from Shawn Verhey
"It is my experience as Managing Chaplain at HMP YOI Thorn Cross that the Sycamore Tree restorative justice course brings a revolution of hope and transformation to both victims and offenders through the uncompromising journey together towards understanding & forgiveness. For this reason it is of the utmost importance that the 'Sycamore Tree experience' is firmly established in every prison in the UK in order to transform the lives of victims, offenders and our communities".
Will Brown a former inmate at HMP Wandsworth shared about the impact Sycamore Tree had on his life and how having left prison he is determined not to reoffend:
“I had faceless victims, but I never confronted them. On the Sycamore Tree course I met a lady named Christine, and she had her house robbed, and I thought, that could have been me. Sycamore Tree gave me a conscience, it was really emotional. I used to burgle people’s houses and then go home and sleep soundly at night. I’ve committed some horrendous crimes and but the Sycamore Tree course has changed my attitude, my life and my family’s life. Thanks to Sycamore Tree.”
Lyn and Mick Connolly, whose son was murdered eleven years ago in a motiveless attack, spoke of how they had forgiven the men who were convicted of the killing. Lyn and Mick take part in the Sycamore Tree course, and to date, have re-lived their story more than seventy times. Lyn Connolly said:
“I walked into the prison and I didn’t know what to expect, and as I began to share my story, I sobbed my way through. I thought maybe I’ll get angry, but as I looked out I saw broken people…these people (the inmates) were victims as well..I felt overwhelmed with love for them..I felt like everyone’s mother…we’ve lost our only son, but we’ve gained hundreds of others. In the eleven years since Paul died, the prison has been the place of most comfort.”
Following this event, Fiona Bruce MP had the opportunity to ask the following question of the Minister for Prisons in the House of Commons on Tuesday 17th December:
Fiona Bruce: How is his Department’s funding for restorative justice being disbursed.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jeremy Wright): We recently announced funding of £29 million over three years for restorative justice, at least £22 million of which is going to police and crime commissioners for victim-initiated and pre-sentence restorative justice services. The remainder is being used to boost capacity so that good-quality restorative justice is available at all stages in the criminal justice system.
Fiona Bruce: I thank the Minister for that reply. Will he join me in affirming the excellent work of the Prison Fellowship’s restorative justice programme, known as the Sycamore Tree project, and will he be good enough to meet me and Prison Fellowship representatives to discuss how the project can be extended beyond the third of prisons in which it currently works to prisons across the country?
Jeremy Wright: As my hon. Friend says, the Sycamore Tree project is already available in some 75 prisons. I certainly support what my hon. Friend says about the good work it does, as was showcased at the excellent event she hosted last week, which I had the pleasure of attending. I will certainly meet her to discuss it further.
