Prison Officer to StandOut Coach!
Our StandOut Team Grows
Louisa Laven, our first Community Coach, joins us after two and a half years working as a prison officer through the Unlocked Graduate programme. Louisa reflects on what brought her to StandOut and how she has spent her first weeks with the team.
I’d like to introduce myself as the newest member of the StandOut team. I am excited to be StandOut’s first Community Coach, a role that will focus on building StandOut’s employer partnerships and the support offered for trainees after prison.
Although I’m new to StandOut, I’m no stranger to the prison environment. I joined the Unlocked Graduates Programme in 2018 and have been working as a prison officer for the last two and a half years. I applied to Unlocked because it offered the opportunity to work on the frontline, building relationships with people in prison to support them in their rehabilitation journey.
In any given day, alongside my general duties, I could switch from giving emergency first aid to someone who had self-harmed, to de-escalating a violent situation, to helping someone write a CV in a Key Worker session. It was unpredictable and often very tough, but also rewarding and fulfilling - to have even the slightest positive impact on someone, by giving support through a really difficult time of their lives, or by challenging their mindset and helping enable positive change.
From the many conversations I’d had on the prison landings, my attention kept being drawn to the critical period of resettlement after prison. And how difficult it is for people to have a fresh start when they are facing a range of obstacles such as mental health issues, addiction, homelessness and a lack of employment opportunities. I realised it was these obstacles that resulted in me seeing the same men leave and return to prison. I decided I wanted to move into resettlement work, ideally with a focus on employment, and where I could make a direct impact on people’s lives after prison. Which led me straight to StandOut.
I imagined I’d be going from a very active, high-pace job with hundreds of social interactions a day to a largely virtual role (for now). In contrast, I’ve spent time in the StandOut office, being trained in how to support people through the StandOut Helpline, and have been in both HMP Wandsworth and HMP Pentonville, talking to the men approaching release through their cell doors and inviting them to call us for help or support on release.
During my two days per week operating the Helpline, I have enjoyed learning how we can offer effective support to people leaving prison. The Helpline receives on average 350 calls a month, an indication of how many people are leaving prison in some level of crisis. It is rewarding to help bridge that gap.
What I’ve really loved about working for StandOut is the constant brainstorming about how we can help more - I’ve recently taken the lead on a new project offering winter ‘Release Packs’ of clothing, basic toiletries and covid PPE to people leaving prison with next to nothing. I feel incredibly proud working for a charity making such a difference and am so excited for all the future projects and different directions my new role will take, especially when the full StandOut programme starts again in 2021!