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Ex-offender case study - Michael
Michael, currently serving a sentence in HMP Wandsworth, works as a Peer Advisor through St Giles Trust’s Peer Advice Project. His own experiences of homelessness and offending bring extra insight and credibility into his work. Here he explains a typical working day in prison .
I have worked at HMP Wandsworth as a Peer Advisor for St Giles Trust for the past 18 months. I completed my NVQ Level 3 in Advice and Guidance last year and now work alongside two other Peer Advisors and the St Giles Trust Housing team.
A typical morning starts at 8.30am when I make my way down to office to collect my work for the day. There will usually be a group of prisoners waiting outside our office who urgently need help with housing issues. My work involves helping homeless clients who are due for release with finding accommodation. I also help prisoners who have accommodation on the outside with sustaining their tenancies and make referrals to other support services.
I am required to return to my cell between 12noon and 1.30 and then work again until 4.30. In the afternoons I go out on the wings to carry out housing assessments. It can be hard working on the wings as it is difficult to get access to the prisoners so assessments can be carried out confidentially. I‘m often recognised on the wings due to my St Giles t-shirt and constantly get approached for housing help.
Last week I was approached by an extremely distressed prisoner who was due to be released the next day and would then be homeless. He had not been referred to us, but I carried out an assessment and immediately brought it to the attention of one of the St Giles Trust caseworkers, who booked an emergency B&B and referred the prisoner to their team in Camberwell for ongoing support.
I find that the work I do is vitally important. My personal experience of homelessness was directly linked to my offending. I’m therefore able to relate to the people I help as I have been through the same hardship myself. Completing my NVQ and working as a Peer Advisor has given me the confidence to start an Open University degree in Social Science. I also feel that the work I do will help prepare me for future employment and I am hoping to be able to volunteer for St Giles Trust whilst finishing my sentence when I’m eligible for day release.
