Transformation in Knowsley

In May we supported the National Probation Service based in Knowsley, who supervise female offenders across Merseyside.

Most of the women they work with are victims of crime and have suffered traumatic experiences both in childhood and adult life. They use alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism to deal with the range of abuse that they have experienced, in some cases at the hands of parents in childhood or partners in adult life.

A high number of the women supervised also suffer from emotional and psychological problems that impact greatly on their mental health, which can also increase the likelihood of continued offending for some of the women throughout their life.

The Kier office at Liverpool supported the probation team to help them decorate a room in their new office to create a safe space to engage with the women and create a therapeutic environment. This will enable the women to address their behaviour to prevent further offending and to learn new coping strategies by introducing them to activities that will support resettlement back into the community and reduce the likelihood of returning to a life of crime.

We held a book collection and we received over 100 books – these were kindly donated by colleagues at the Liverpool office. Furthermore with the support of Wayne Blair (Project Manager) we also obtained some materials, furniture and paint.

On the 23rd May an open afternoon was hosted with partnership agencies, representatives from safer communities, the police and the police and crime commissioner’s office to showcase the room. We hope that through this chance we can support the transformation in the lives of these ladies.