Blog

Exciting news – more support is on the way!

30 Jun 2022

We have been sharing articles every day this week to celebrate our first birthday as a provider of Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS). We hope you have enjoyed reading about our services and the impact they are having. We’re so proud to be helping people in prison and on probation turn their lives around and set out on the path to a much brighter future.

We are delighted to end the week by announcing that our success over the past year is resulting in an expansion of services! Up to now, we’ve been providing support with accommodation; education, training and employment; and personal wellbeing. But later this summer, there will be even more support available...

We will deliver much-needed Finance, Benefits and Debt services in the East Midlands, West Midlands, Thames Valley and Hampshire from the 16th August. Then from the 23rd August, we will be delivering Dependency and Recovery support services across the North East, and in West and North Yorkshire. 

We’re busy recruiting new team members now to deliver these newly-won contracts for probation service users to add to our existing CRS provisions.

Again, these are the types of services we have delivered for many years and so we will be building on firm foundations whilst introducing new and creative interventions and exciting new partnerships. We look forward to sharing more about the outcomes of these services very soon.

I’d like to end the week by saying a personal thanks to everyone who has worked with us over the past year, in our teams and in our partnerships. It has been an absolute joy to work alongside so many talented and highly committed people. 

I would like to say a particular thank you to our team of peer mentors who started their journey with us as receivers of our services and who have now given up their time to complete our training and work alongside us to make a difference to the lives of others. Nothing makes me happier than to see the Ingeus Academy in action and I am grateful to each one of you for your service.

Our work in action 

We’ve already featured some of our peer mentors in good news stories to showcase the wonderful work they are doing to help others turn a corner. Lee had a drink-driving conviction but after beating his alcohol problem, he trained to become a personal wellbeing mentor. He realised while on detox that he wanted to help other people and he’s now making a real difference.

Meanwhile former gambling addict David Timms is using his lived experience to help other people break the habit. There is generally less help available for people with a gambling addiction, compared to those with drug or alcohol problems, so David’s assistance is much appreciated.

You can watch an inspiring video to see how Jamie Wilson turned his life around. He had been in and out of the justice system, struggling with his mental health, until he received tailored support from Ingeus. He became inspired to help others and seized the opportunity to become a peer mentor. 

Jahzeal Kennedy is another fantastic success story. He was overheard chatting to a man in the waiting room of a probation office, advising him to sort his life out sooner rather than later. This chance conversation led to Jahzeal being invited to join our peer mentoring programme! He qualified as a health trainer and took on a paid role as a personal wellbeing mentor.

Check out our reflections video and join us on some personal journeys during our first year of CRS delivery.

I hope these success stories inspire other service users to consider joining us and sharing their lived experience with others. Congratulations to all those peer mentors who are now employed by us and good luck to everyone who’s currently going through the recruitment process!