I was interested to read the recent Education, skills and work peer mentoring in men's prisons report published by the Ministry of Justice. Peer mentoring is a key part of Shannon Trust’s programme delivery, and it is ultimately why we have seen so much success supporting people to learn to read and improve their numeracy skills.
The report confirmed to me the benefits of our peer-led programmes across the prison estate, including:
It also confirmed to me that there are barriers that need to be addressed in order to ensure that peer mentoring programmes, like those delivered by Shannon Trust, can be delivered to maximum effectiveness.
The report shows that impact on association time is a barrier to running an effective peer-led programme. With limited time spent unlocked, mentors and mentees are less likely to engage in learning programmes. They can prioritise spending time showering, exercising or communicating with loved ones.
One mentor recently told a staff member that he had been in another prison where mentors and mentees were unlocked to undertake Shannon Trust sessions, and that it had made a huge difference. He said that it was clear to him that the governor/leadership at his current prison does not care about their inmates, or their education.
By preventing Shannon Trust activity from happening, a sense of frustration is felt towards the prison, which cannot be productive for the mentors and mentees, or prison staff, who possibly feel the results of this frustration firsthand.
Our ask: Allow mentors to conduct their activities as if it were a job. Allow mentors and mentees to be unlocked to conduct sessions, and where possible, allow them to travel around the prison to undertake sessions with mentees. This will both allow mentors and mentees to make faster progress, but also demonstrates to them that the prison values the peer mentoring role, and that they care about mentees’ progression. The report mentions that the only real drawback mentees feel about peer-led programmes comes from having experienced a poorly run programme in another establishment, as this makes them less likely to re-engage somewhere else.
The report also told us that mentors value the opportunity to receive accreditation for their role, as it could help them into further education or employment opportunities. This is something Shannon Trust has recently implemented.
Our ask: Invest in the opportunity for Shannon Trust mentors to receive accreditation for their role. This will attract and retain high performing mentors, and will add to the benefits of a successful peer-led programme previously mentioned.
The report recommended greater support from operational staff at all levels, including better communication around the importance of the peer mentoring role
Our ask: Embed our programmes into the prison estate fully. This could be through covering it as part of the induction process, allowing drop-in sessions to take place, regular communication with staff about the peer-led mentoring programmes available in the prison and the benefits of them, or following the recommendation of a dedicated operational staff member to liaise with staff who run peer mentoring schemes in order to overcome any barriers.
We train thousands of mentors every year, who in turn, support thousands of people in prison to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. They do important, valuable work at a low cost to the prison service. Many undertake this work with no financial incentives – they do it because they know it’s important and worthwhile.
We know prisons are challenging environments to work in and undertake these activities, but even by addressing just the few barriers mentioned in this response, we know we could support many more people to improve their literacy and numeracy and engage people in purposeful activity within the prison. We can only do so much.
The outcomes of the mentors and learners of the future also depends on the support of the prisons they are in. We hope, that by seeing all the benefits of peer-led mentoring programmes outlined in this report, they can help us overcome barriers, that we can take the delivery and success of these programmes to a new level.
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