Our origins
The Welcome Directory was inspired by a resettlement project in Singapore called the Yellow Ribbon. Employers signed up to make opportunities for people when they came out of prison if the employers themselves made a commitment to change. It has led to real changes in society including a willingness to "unlock the second prison" of the community so that there was more acceptance and support for people upon release.bon.org.sg
The project was referred to in a speech by a former Prisons Minister, Crispin Blunt, at a lecture on Restorative Justice at Lambeth Palace and led to the idea of developing a network of "Yellow Ribbon" faith communities in England and Wales so that when people are released they can easily identify communities that would be welcoming. Each self-identified community, with the support and commitment of their faith community leadership, would ensure that they have in place:
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people identified who have undergone some training to make them aware of the needs of people who have been in prison,
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safeguarding policies in place,
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and identified local resources that might be helpful to someone making the transition to life in the wider community.
The level of support imagined would not be a formal mentoring scheme, but rather organic support developed through awareness raising and attitudinal change within the particular faith community. This would be the role of a small group of committed and identifiable champions within that community. It was the aspiration of the original working group that many faith communities would sign up as Yellow Ribbon communities so that a person walking down a high street might see the Yellow Ribbon sign outside a Mosque, Church, Temple and Gurdwara and so recognise the common values shared by faith communities to support people as they resettle.
An initial exploratory group was established involving people from Community Chaplaincy projects, representatives from faith communities identified by HMPPS Faith Advisors and the Head of HMPPS Chaplaincy, and a focus group was held at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. The purpose of the focus group was to explore with people who have either gone through the experience of leaving prison, or were about to do so, what they would look for in such a "Yellow Ribbon" faith community in terms of their values and the sort of welcome and practical support that would be helpful so that they would feel truly "at home".
Much as it would be nice to think that all faith communities would want to be "Yellow Ribbon" faith communities, the experience of people going out suggests that many places easily feel out of their depth with folk who have been imprisoned and cope by either rejecting them - in a "nice way", or making the person feel too visible at a time when they want to be able to gain the confidence of a few new friends.
After several meetings it was agreed that the next step forward would be to develop a Pilot Project in two areas; one being a London Metropolitan area and the other an area with strong faith diversity.
Development
Bob Wilson, The Free Churches Faith Advisor to NOMS drew up a plan to implement the pilot and secured the funding to develop the idea and run a limited pilot over the course of a year. In October 2014, Jonathan Green was appointed to coordinate the development of the work on a part time basis. Because there are a number of organisations in the UK that use Yellow Ribbons, it was agreed that The Welcome Directory was a good description of the aim of the work. To develop a directory of welcoming and supportive faith communities across England and Wales.
2014-2016
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October 2014 was a time of planning and focusing the question of what could be achieved in a year.
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Between November and January about 120 people provided input including prisoners, former prisoners, prison chaplains, prison staff, prison governors, criminologists and faith leaders. Their input led to some key insights that shaped the vision further and some central themes emerged which helped determine the next steps.
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A diverse development team was formed and Jonathan and the team shaped three sessions that form the heart of The Welcome Directory process.
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The three sessions were finished at the beginning of the Spring of 2015 and five prisons agreed to take part in the pilot.
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Towards the end of the summer we had our first registration: The Quakers in Rugby!
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Encouraged by the response, we learnt from the pilot, refined our processes and edited the sessions. In early 2016 we released the material and supporting resources to all managing chaplains across the prisons in England and Wales and invited them to develop the work in the coming year.
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Recognising the potential of The Welcome Directory and encouraged by the early results, the Directors of the Free Churches Group extended the funding for a further year.
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Recognising the opportunity to develop a distinctive work that had potential to grow into a national work which was supported by staff and volunteers, the directors of the Free Churches Group encouraged The Welcome Directory to become a charity in its own right. They promised six months of funding whilst a donor base could be developed.
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On 1st October 2016, precisely two years after the development began formally the new charity had its administrative launch.
The Welcome Directory was initially funded by The Free Churches Group which represents 24 free church denominations and the charity retains key links in the form of three nominated trustees. From the beginning, people from a variety of faith traditions have been consulted and had input into the development process, including shaping the three sessions and the board of trustees represent a variety of faith traditions.
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