make money out of renovating it. I pitched and pitched until NHS Gateways gave
me the money to get started. Then things started to pick up pace and we received
money from the Transformation Challenge Award network, the police and crime
commissioner’s office and the local authority, and had the backing of the police.
I am now on full-time secondment from Lancashire Constabulary to lead the
enterprise. We have police officers and ex-offenders working side by side, united by
the common purpose of creating meaningful employment and good accommodation.
The adults we work with are ex-offenders and people who have been in
addiction, many of whom have been homeless or suffered from family
breakdown or mental illness. But I see these people as amazing, with innate
abilities – no matter their previous lives. As we help them to reconnect with their
families, improve their skills, build new homes and strive for a better future, I see
their passion, not their past.
A powerful thing we are able to do at JFH is to change a person’s identity – from
being a heroin addict, a burglar, or a drinker, to being Mr X the plumber or Mrs Y the
health and social care professional. They need to learn how to communicate with
others, how to do the weekly shop or just what to wear for the appropriate
occasion. When a grown man asks, ‘How do you make a friend?’ it gives you some
idea of the personal challenges confronting the adults we work with – and just
how difficult it can be for someone who is reintegrating into society.
There has been so much learned in our first 18 months. From day one we have
been the subject of an independent academic evaluation, led by Professor David
Best, a leading criminologist from Sheffield Hallam University, with a team from
ACT recovery. Professor Best, who has evaluated dozens of recovery-related projects
worldwide, said JFH is ‘the most exciting’ he’s seen.
While ours is a common sense approach, it is not common. We hope that our
evaluation, on top of our anecdotes and inspirational stories, will mean we can help
more people in this way. Early intervention work to prevent the root
causes of why people use substances, or experience mental
health problems or family breakdown, is proving to be
an effective way of reducing crime and reoffending,
and austerity measures within the police meant
they were open and receptive to new and
innovative ideas.
We don't get rid of people the first time they fail – we would sooner put our
arms around them tighter and love them that bit more. JFH is all about building
and promoting a person’s self worth, so we do a lot of supporting and handholding;
budgeting for the weekly shop, sorting out bank accounts, arranging doctors’
appointments. But we do operate a ‘tough love’ programme, and set high
expectations alongside that support. Our job is to inspire them to aspire to a
positive future, and we support them to do this by paying into a workplace pension,
even for apprentices, and paying well above the minimum wage. We’re really
starting to show the benefits of investing in people in this way.
We now have people who were long-term homeless, sleeping rough for
years, eating from bins and stealing to survive, living in a quality flat that
they’ve built themselves. We have had parents telling us that they can
be proud of their sons again; partners thanking us for giving them
their loved one back. It’s very humbling, very special.
£92,000+
...the amount of PAYE tax paid by
JFH employees in its first 12 months
28
...the number of jobs
created for people
in recovery from
addiction
JFH in
numbers
£815,113
...the conservative figure on how
much JFH has saved the public purse
in its first 12 months, through
reducing offending, imprisonments,
health and social strains
and benefit claims
15
...the number of
purpose-built quality
homes created
86
...the percentage of team members
who say their family relationships
have significantly improved
since joining JFH
59
...the percentage of team
members who have been
in addiction
June 2016 |
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| 9
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46
...the number of children
now seeing their parents,
once affected by addiction
and long-term unemployed,
going to work
‘While ours is a common sense
approach, it is not common. We
hope that our evaluation, on top
of our anecdotes and inspirational
stories, will mean we can help
more people in this way.’
