this week we had our expert panel for our current progress on our prison release project.

mentors - ruth gray, richard good, luke dickson, heather mcfarlane, chloe walkingshaw, barry rooney,

panel presentation review -

richard good - turnaround project, young organisiairton in justice sector, engagement with justice system, employement support and equiping people with necessary skills to move forward upon release. experience in working with men within prison and prison staff whos partners are serving time. in englsnf and wales, they have prison based social workers who manage tranisiton parenting from prison to community. his insights would be levels of distrust within system - “took my children away” to park our community centre idea (concept of a physical space seen as a trusted place for those to attend upon release) people come in such as local companies in tech etc come in and give lessons and experience for prisoners and how they can use it. bernardos charity offer parenting classes to assist. idenitfy goof things that happen with family support in prison and how it can develop further. location and funding is a main seen problem when it comes to developing communal project further.

Heather mcfarlane - public health agency, seeing people come out of institutional care into the community again, no social workers within the prison to provide support and care for prisoners. safespace and community/peer support is always needed such as mensheds charity - mental health problems and not reaching that wider audience so for instance instigating activities that allow men to speak. healthy living centres NI charity funded that handle over 30 different community areas and provide training, education etc for those coming out of prison. integration is key - connection with family and personla connection into society, miss conception of the needs a person may need, not just thinking about how little or big they are.