A Cycle of Change

Well, this morning, I am going on a training course, "Preparing for Change" and I have been contemplating on having what looks like only 8 full working weeks left of my Probation work, due to booked leave, and the policies of this Government, up until the 31st March. I thought I would post a personally adapted worksheet I use with people in my work which comes from a manual called Targets for Effective Change.

The Problem Defined.

A prison governor, who had reason not to be very happy with me, once said I was a congenital idiot who would spend the rest of his life behind bars….. At the time, I did not know fully what he meant but the phrase stuck with me.

Not Thinking About The Problem (PRE-COMTEMPLATIVE).

Leaving prison I went straight back into my old ways and haunts. I was involved with drug abuse and lived in a place where every body I associated with was involved in a criminal lifestyle.

Thinking About Dealing With The Problem (CONTEMPLATIVE).

Another clash with the Criminal Justice System, and instead of being sent back to prison, I was sent to Cardigan House Probation Hostel by Leeds Crown Court. At this point I was sick of the life I was living. I knew that I needed to change and I wanted to change.

The Turning Point. (DETERMINATION).

The turning point came while I was in Cardigan House Probation Hostel, after speaking to a man who worked in the hostel and who had changed his ways at an early age. I decided that I was going do the same. I set out two goals: my first goal to get a flat in Leeds, as I didn’t want to go back to my home town and run the risk of getting sucked back into a criminal lifestyle; my second goal was to get some kind of employment or training.

Putting A Plan Into Action (ACTION)

Firstly, I approached probation staff about my wanting to stay in Leeds and secured a flat in the city with their help. Secondly, I signed up for a Community Enterprise Scheme where I gained some work experience. From that position I wrote to every business on an industrial estate and got one reply, which led to one interview and one well-paid job.

A Change Sustained. (MAINTENANCE)

I eventually went to night school as my literacy skills were very poor and I did a couple of o’levels that helped me to get enrolled onto a four year residential course at a college in Manchester. College life was hard at first as everybody seemed to have A levels etc, but a fellow student assisted me with my work, and I decided to marry her before I graduated, and we left the establishment together.

I started going into some local  prisons, and during this time I did a course for inmates who were to be released from prison called, “Think It’s All Over?". But for sure, it’s not all over after you are released from prison. My crime related problems did not evaporate over-night. There were a number of setbacks at first. However, a change has been sustained for over 30 years, and I am very much aware of the benefits of an alternative lifestyle and outlook.

I am also aware of the consequences of failing to deal with the problem of offending behaviour. Sadly, a number of my family and some of the folk I knocked about with are still involved with drug abuse and a criminal lifestyle, and have been in-and-out of prison.

That prison governor gave a good indication of the course I was once taking by saying I was a congenital idiot who would spend the rest of his life behind bars. However, because of the assistance of the Probation Hostel, and the action that was taken by myself, things have taken a different course.....

I was thinking of all this yesterday too, and with mixed emotions, as there is now Change Ahead and I was taking part in a lunchtime demonstration outside Sheffield Town Hall giving out leaflets with NAPO colleagues from Probation, where I have now worked for the last 14 years, seeking to defend an organisation which protects the public and  assists people with the Cycle of Change.

Please sign this Petition against privatisation, as it's very important that our Public tune into the SOUL of Probation's Heritage and a Public Service that has served this country well.