WOMEN'S COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHE stands for Support, Help, and Engagement and is the name of the point of arrest diversion scheme for women in Avon and Somerset. SHE offers an opportunity for some women who have been arrested to avoid a charge, a court appearance and potentially a prison sentence by agreeing to engage with SHE and a range of support interventions.

We strive to help to reduce the potential for reoffending and ultimately avoid the women returning to the criminal justice system. Women can be referred in three ways:

1. If the crime is suitable for a community resolution or conditional caution. This means women have to engage during the three month window of their conditional caution or community resolution.
2. If the crime doesn’t quite fit the criteria for a conditional caution, the woman can request a voluntary referral.
3. The woman can refer herself by contacting a SHE worker or, an external agency working with the woman can refer her.

The Nelson Trust provides an in-reach service at Eastwood Park Prison. We are working with over a hundred women in prison, our project, funded through the HMPPS CFO3 programme, is helping just under half of those access courses to enable them to go into employment.

The HMPPS CFO3 programme is aimed at helping those individuals who are considered ‘hard to reach’. Although gaining employment is seen as a major step to progression the programme recognises the importance of social inclusion. Due to this recognition, CFO3 focuses more on the participants’ barriers such as health, relationships, finance and accommodation with the intention of providing a positive impact on securing employment in the future.

As part of the CFO3 programme, The Nelson Trust is working with women currently at HMP Eastwood Park providing both one-to-one and group support. The support offered is tailored to the individual and focuses on their specific needs. In addition to this, a through-the-gate service is also offered in partnership with The Nelson Trust keyworkers to ensure on-going support is provided upon release from custody.

The Re-unite Gloucestershire project helps mothers to be re-united with their children after serving a prison sentence.

We support young women and girls aged 14-24 who live in rural locations and are at risk of offending. We promote the early development of a healthy, pro-social identity through individual support and educational workshops.

The team offer individualised one-to-one support with the parent, child or young person, helping them recognise what signs of exploitation are and how they can keep themselves and their families safe.

Through our Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP), we work with some of the most vulnerable women in our society who have been drawn to selling sex to fund a Class A drug addiction. Through this service women largely ignored by society have been seen and noticed and are being provided with the resources to make positive changes in their lives and to keep safe.

The Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project aims to engage with and support individuals within Gloucestershire who are currently dealing with circumstances that are potentially causing barriers to work, and subsequently, move these people closer towards education, training, volunteering or work, including self-employment.

This programme is a unique and unprecedented partnership of community based organisations, managed by Gloucestershire Gateway Trust on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council. Each partner has committed to work collaboratively to help individuals with any needs or requirements to overcome any barriers they may have and effectively improve their lives.

The GEM Project is jointly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and European Social Fund.