PCC praises ‘extraordinary’ addiction recovery service for helping prison leavers achieve long-term sobriety

A prison-based rehabilitation service funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews has helped dozens of people achieve long-term sobriety from alcohol and/or drug misuse for the first time – including an individual who was addicted for almost 50 years.

The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCC provided funding worth £9,996.00

to the Mutual Aid Facilitation programme ‘Make A Fresh Start’ run by substance misuse charity Dear Albert inside HMP Leicester over the past 12 months.

The project is aimed at ensuring prisoners and prison leavers who are experiencing addiction challenges can access high-quality, trauma-informed, lived-experience-led rehabilitation services while serving their sentences.

It also provides a stepping stone to continued help through Dear Albert’s Stairway Project upon release where individuals can further their treatment by joining peer-led groups, engaging in sober-only spaces, receiving further emotional regulation and other therapeutic support and access community-run holistic wellbeing services such as art, music, mindfulness and wellness treatments.

Through ‘Make a Fresh Start’, the charity delivered weekly 90-minute rehabilitation sessions across 48 weeks through group-based and one-to-one support combining self-management and recovery training.

Its extraordinary success has been credited with the power of lived experience in radically improving trust and enabling vulnerable people to engage in a way that feels safer than more traditional models of support.

Inmates who initially were dismissive and ‘closed off’ of the support have ended up fully embracing and engaging with the initiative purely based on the credibility of the specialists helping them to recover.

One individual who was supported at HMP Leicester before transitioning to support at the Stairway Project said he had never overcome his addiction with any other service throughout decades in prison and 50 years of dependence. He has finally achieved sobriety through the model and puts it all down to the lived-experience approach.

Since launching, the level of participation at the Stairway Project has increased from five weekly groups to more than 25 – thanks to the strong uptake and success of the ‘Make A Fresh Start’ project.

Additionally, former service users are now working as volunteers and staff on the programme, demonstrating their sustained recovery and the success of the project in helping participants to access employment and develop their skills.

Prisoner behaviour has also improved with inmates employing self-regulation techniques and showing greater respect for staff. Many inmates and prison leavers have reconnected with families and rebuilt relationships while avoiding reoffending.

Preventing and Tackling Crime and Harm is a key overarching mission in the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan, with the Commissioner making specific pledges to work alongside partners to address the root causes of offending and ensure vulnerable people are identified and supported to turn their backs on crime to build safer and prosperous communities.

Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews said: “This project has achieved exactly what was intended – to offer a fresh start. It is an extraordinary example of the power of lived experience to break barriers and transform lives and fills a critical gap in provision by bridging prison and community recovery to give inmates the best possible chance of turning their back on addiction permanently.

“Prior to this project launching, all inmates had expressed an urgent need for more lived-experience, peer-led substance use support, and this programme was created in direct response. Historically, large numbers of ex-offenders have relapsed immediately upon release, often reoffending and returning to prison, while 44% of prisoners who previously engaged in structured treatment did not continue their support after leaving.

“This programme is successfully breaking the cycle, helping people to rebuild all areas of their lives. I’m proud of everyone involved from the practitioners who have shared their personal journeys and compassion to help others achieve abstinence to the inmates who have truly committed to this support. This success is well-deserved.”

To help mitigate the risk of relapse, inmates are met at the prison exit through the programme and receive relapse prevention training and support to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. In addition, once released, users are placed in groups based on their addiction habits.

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