Feeling hopeless?

For the 85,884 men and women in prison in England and Wales, 'hope' is often in short supply.

I met a man recently who called himself a career criminal. Having spent 30 years in and out of prison, jail was just ‘an occupational hazard’.

Estranged from his family for nearly 15 years and facing a future as bleak as his past, Ben (name changed to protect identity) seemed a hopeless case.

Ben attended Sycamore Tree, a Victim Awareness and Restorative Justice programme run by Prison Fellowship volunteers in 47 prison across the country.

A Christian faith based course but open to people of all faiths or none, it enables offenders to realise the damaged caused by crime and to take responsibility for the damage they’ve done. It helps them to develop a new found empathy with others and supports them in planning and taking the next steps to a crime free life.

After meeting a victim of crime and realising for the first time how much damage he had caused, Ben decided to write to his family.

Their replies were not easy to read, years of hurt filled the tear stained pages. Ben wrote back and a dialogue between these broken people began.

After 15 years of separation, Ben has now been restored to his family. On my last visit the governor said ‘ I don’t know what you did to Ben but he’s a different man’.

There are no such things as HOPELESS cases… only people who need HOPE.

Ruthie Woodhouse

Bethel Chapel, Clapham Sycamore Tree Volunteer