StandOut x PA Consulting: “To really connect with people, with authenticity – that means something”

What happens when you encourage people in prison to connect with people in the community? From building confidence to systems change, we spoke about what it really means to volunteer in prison as we celebrated PA Consulting reaching 100 StandOut volunteers.

We might not like to admit it, but we all make assumptions. If something or someone is unfamiliar then, if we don’t take care, preconceptions begin to sprout in that gap in our knowledge and experience.

Prisons are a good example. Its walls mean that much of the community will never get to connect with someone in prison, test their assumptions and begin to understand them as a human. The same goes for people in prison; how are they to test their assumptions about themselves and their abilities in, for example, the world of work, if they can’t speak with potential employers and colleagues?

It's for this reason – among others – that we invite people from the community into our partner prisons, to meet and exchange with our participants.

We recently celebrated our valued partnership with PA Consulting who have - so far - sent more than 100 volunteers our way; joined 130 CV workshops, mock interviews, and graduations; and supported four of our Career Hubs. Through The PA Foundation we’ve also benefited from two years of generous funding.

Our celebration earlier in May featured a conversation facilitated by Sally Bibb; two PA volunteers (Mohammed and Nelena), former StandOut participant Audi, and our longest serving Coach Amrit. As the panellists reflected on what it means to have volunteering embedded into our programme, human connection emerged as the evening’s theme.

Amrit – who joined us after a day of one-to-one coaching sessions with participants at HMP Wormwood Scrubs – shared a conversation she’d had earlier that day. A gentleman who had recently completed the course had spoken with her about how, at graduation, he had been taken aback by how many volunteers had wanted to speak with him. It felt good, he said, because the whole course had prepared him for that day.

“I felt so confident, because it wasn’t new to me anymore.”

The importance of providing people in prison with opportunities to connect with people in the community - to practice soft skills like professional conversations or handshakes - can’t be understated. It tests a person’s assumption that they can’t do something.

A participant who featured in a video shown at the celebration spoke about this too – about the confidence he’d gained from having volunteers review his CV and test out his interview skills. And another spoke about how it felt to know that – despite what he had assumed – there were people in the community who believed in people in prison, like him.

It was really nice to see how many people outside of that small classroom had a vested interest in our succeeding.

We know however that our volunteering sessions also benefit our volunteers. Our Partnerships Lead, Charlotte, often talks about the importance of making these sessions mutually beneficial.

Nelena illustrated this impact beautifully as she spoke about her previous career as a police officer, and current role in the justice and home affairs team at PA Consulting. Until her first volunteer session with StandOut, she hadn’t visited a prison.

Despite having been a police officer, she hadn’t seen what happens to a person after being charged. She hadn’t visited a cell or spoken with someone who lived in it, and that didn’t feel right. As she spoke with one StandOut participant, she realised that much of what he was sharing with her – about the challenges he faced in breaking that cycle of crime – was new information. She felt disappointed that she didn’t have this knowledge before.

If you have such an important role in a person’s first part of their journey in the criminal justice system, then you should understand the latter part of it. If I had had this experience, I would have been a better police officer.

For StandOut, this is exactly it. We’re confident that joining one of our volunteering sessions will challenge any assumptions you might hold about people in prison, and apply what you’ve learned to your work, your business, or your conversations with family and friends.

As StandOut’s CEO and Co-Founder Penny said at the beginning of the evening:

Bringing people into prison can change our participants’ perspectives. But we also see our volunteers as systems changers. Volunteering with StandOut gives you an insight into the working of the criminal justice system - our justice system - that we are all responsible for.

Mohammed from PA Consulting got us thinking about the importance of how we connect. He prompted a ripple of laughter across the room of consultants as he described the internal dilemma he experienced before his first volunteering session with StandOut.

Do I go in with my polished, consultant persona? Or do I go in with my genuine, unpolished persona?

Mostly subconsciously, he said, he started his conversation with StandOut participant – A – as any consultant would in a professional setting. A, the participant he was speaking with, also seemed to have his guard up that day. But as the conversation progressed, they each began to drop their guards – the more they spoke, the more they connected and understood that there was no need for those defences.

I went in as a stereotypical consultant, asking – what is the problem and what is the solution? But I should have been asking – what is the human connection?

Mohammed took a lot from that conversation. He learned that how you ‘show up’ in an interaction impacts yourself and others, and that to create a connection with someone you need to go beyond the superficial. He also began to ask how we can create spaces in which we can be our authentic selves and build the human connection we all crave.

And what did A say about their chat? “I felt the love”.

Former StandOut participant Audi – who had been talking to Mohammed before the event started – really drove home the importance of being authentic in our interactions. In prison, he said, there’s often the feeling that you need to have your guard up 100% of the time. Being able to speak with someone in a totally normal way feels good.

We all make assumptions, but don’t let that stop you from treating them as if they’re your own family. Everyone has their own story, and if someone is willing to pick themselves up, then you must give them a chance.

He was echoed by one of our video participants.

Everyone at StandOut is very human and has an innate kindness that allows them to connect with people and resonate with them at so many different levels. To really connect with people, with authenticity – that means something.

We’d like to thank PA Consulting and The PA Foundation for their continued support, and our participants who joined us on the night – in person and online.

If you’re an employer looking to partner with a charity that empowers people leaving prison to thrive, please get in touch with StandOut Partnerships Lead Charlotte Betts.