THROUGH
THE GATE
#stopviolence
The Though the Gate project provides ‘through the gate’ and intensive mentoring for young adult offenders in a community setting. It is run by Inspire and Achieve Foundation and offers intensive monitoring for 15 young people in the key period immediately before and after their release.
The main aims are to reduce reoffending through rehabilitation and positive diversionary activities, and providing practical help to ensure the releases do not fall back into old life patters. The program is overseen by experienced mentors and follow IAF’s 10 step approach:
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Build the Relationship: Trust, Listening and Engagement: The step provides positive friendships/role models and gives the participant a feeling of belonging.
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Basic Physical/Physiological Needs: Is the participant adequately housed/fed/warm/ on correct benefits? This is addressed as a matter of urgency.
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Tackling Personal Barriers and Staying Safe: Provide support for personal barriers such as addictions, poor health, caring responsibilities, abuse/violence, and poor mental health.
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Help clients understand their strengths and weaknesses and their relationships with others: Improving self-awareness boosts confidence, tackles unhealthy relationships, assists with changing peer groups, improves mental health, and helps with career mapping. IAF encourage respect for others, empathy, and inclusion.
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Understanding the System and Gaining Perspective: Help them understand how to find and access the correct support at the right time, and how to adapt their behaviours to achieve their end goal. Encourage them to look at the bigger picture.
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Taking Responsibility: Help clients take responsibility for their actions and drive through changes in their lives.
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Mapping the Future: Help clients indemnify their values and set realistic goals.
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Gaining Skills: Help with employability skills, health and life skills, and work experience.
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Pro-active Approach to Progression: Hold their hand and show them the way. This is especially helpful for combatting anxiety, low confidence, and for kinesthetic learners. For example, IAF helps with job searches, applications, interview clothes, public transport, attending group meetings/interviews, health appointments, etc.
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Sustaining Positive Progressions and Recognising Achievement: Continued support even after progression and recognition of key achievements.
For more details of Inspire and Achieve’s work please visit: https://www.inspireachieve.co.uk/.
Covid-19 Update: This project is going ahead as planned with mentoring currently being undertaken virtually although keen and eager to carry on with face to face mentoring of early release prisoners if required.
