Thinking back, looking forward: John
In this blog, we hear from John, who has recently moved on from Lead Coach at HMP Pentonville to a new role outside of StandOut, in the world of education. John joined the StandOut team in January 2021 after two years at Pentonville as a prison officer through the Unlocked Grads programme. You can read all about his first impressions of StandOut in a blog he wrote, shortly after joining the team. Now, on the other side of his journey with us – having made a fantastic impact during his time as a StandOut coach, he reflects on his experiences and what he will take forward with him in his next steps.
During my time as a prison officer, I always wanted to take conversations beyond the landings – so, when I started as a StandOut coach, I was excited for all the conversations that were going to come in a role that would enable me to do just that. Nearly two years on and as I close the door on my StandOut chapter, all I can say is that the conversations did not disappoint.
Conversations continued well beyond prison landings and took place in classrooms, StandOut’s office, over a coffee in Costa, while walking through Vauxhall Park, over another coffee in Redemption Roasters, while on a break at Bromley College – or another of the many places I’ve met with Trainees. The location of these conversations tells only a fraction of the content and every conversation I have had in my time at StandOut has been unique. These conversations have been the relational basis from which all my work has flowed.
StandOut’s greatest strength as an organisation is the person-centred approach that permeates throughout all its work. They recognise that every individual has their own needs, ambitions, interests, strengths, and challenges. The thing that I have enjoyed the most about working with people leaving prison is seeing how they have found their own way through the challenges that they have faced and found their own way to the successes that they have achieved. When I was saying goodbye to one of men that I worked with, he reflected that he couldn’t believe how many ups and downs he had experienced since he came out of prison: “Finally, I feel good and like things are going in the right direction. I can’t believe how hard it’s been and how long it took me to get into work, I never thought it would have been this hard”. It took over a year of resilience, determination and hard work to finally get to a place where he felt happy about the direction of his life going forward.
“My time at StandOut has underlined that it’s not about what you do for someone but rather about how you travel alongside someone on their journey. ”
My time at StandOut has underlined that it’s not about what you do for someone but rather about how you travel alongside someone on their journey. It was summed up for me by another person I worked with who used a sporting analogy to describe how I had helped him secure a job: “Thanks for the assist on that one John”. Playing a through ball is great but there’s only one person who can put it in the back of the net. Seeing people achieving their own goals through hard work, perseverance and resilience is incredibly inspiring.
StandOut took me to places that I could have never imagined when I first started out on my criminal justice journey as a prison officer. I found myself co-facilitating Prison Reform Trust group consultations in Pentonville with someone who I first met years before when I was his landing officer and conducting side-by-side interviews with a person who I had known as an officer, coached through the StandOut programme and seen flourish working for Unlocked Graduates.
These are among the many memories from StandOut that I will always cherish.
Working at StandOut, with a team who champion and celebrate the successes of people leaving prison, made clear to me how important it is to shine a light on the positive stories coming out of prison. It’s easy in the criminal justice system to see a person as the sum of what they’ve done in their past, and their associated risk factors. However, StandOut wants to discover their strengths and celebrate their successes – and the team are reminded every day of the significant challenges people face both in prison and upon release.
For now, as my professional journey takes me away from criminal justice, I will always be willing to keep having those conversations that got me started in the first place. When I talk about prison and people living that experience, I will talk about all the potential that lies within the system and all of the incredible people I had the pleasure of working with during my time at StandOut.