Offenders share experiences in new Probation Board newsletter

The newsletter Connect was launched in the Long Gallery at Stormont on Wednesday.

From left, Fred Caulfield, executive director of the Prison Arts Foundation, Amanda Stewart, PBNI chief executive, Gillian Montgomery, PBNI director of operations, and Professor Joe Duffy, senior social work lecturer at QUB, at the launch of the Connect newsletter at Stormont (PBNI/PA)

A newsletter developed and written by offenders on probation in Northern Ireland has been launched.

The new initiative from the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) is designed to provide people going through the probation process with information and support as well as helping to reduce offending.

The newsletter Connect was launched in the Long Gallery at Stormont on Wednesday.

Amanda Stewart, chief executive of PBNI (PBNI/PA) (PA Media)

PBNI chief executive Amanda Stewart said: “People who have lived experience have a lot to contribute to helping us create a system that can reduce the number of victims of crime and make communities safer.”

Gillian Montgomery, PBNI director of operations, said: “We get to hear what works, and importantly what doesn’t work, in terms of supporting someone on their desistance and rehabilitative journey.

“The Connect newsletter is one example, and a great example, of putting the concept of service user involvement into practice.

“We believe that the effectiveness of probation in changing lives for safer communities will be enhanced through the involvement of service users in the planning, developing and evaluating of services delivered.”

Professor Joe Duffy, from Queen’s University, Belfast, said: “Service user involvement, when approached in the right way, can indeed change lives.

“The launch of Connect by PBNI shows how this can have a transformative impact on how others understand service users’ issues.”