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RE:Store Opens!
Lance Kennedy, Cornwall Council's Cabinet member for Community Safety and Neighbourhoods officially opened the new office in the RE:STORE building in Lucknow Road, Bodmin at 12.30 pm on Friday, 23 July.
Representatives from all the partner agencies were at the ceremony to view the project, talk to staff and see displays.
The RE:STORE partnership is a partnership between ReZolve, Coastline Housing, Devon and Cornwall Probation Trust, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, Cornwall Foundation Trust, Cornwall Council and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Drug and Alcohol Action Team.
The aim of the project is to reduce reoffending through jointly managing offenders, many of whom have drug and alcohol problems. This will involve the agencies working together to develop innovative programmes involving treatment, supervision and the provision of training and opportunities for reintegration and recovery.
The Drug and Alcohol Action Team plans, commissions and co-ordinates drug and alcohol services for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Following a bid to the Home Office, the Team was awarded an £80,000 capital grant to refurbish premises to improve local delivery.
"Our aim is to ensure that drug and alcohol services are delivered as effectively and as economically as possible as close as possible to where people live " said Bob Crossland, Manager of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Drug and Alcohol Action Team. "The premises in Lucknow Road offered the opportunity for a new and creative partnership with ReZolve and the capital grant has been used to refurbish empty offices attached to the ReStore project.
The official opening ceremony will be carried out by Lance Kennedy, Cornwall Council's Cabinet member with responsibility for community safety. The ceremony will also be attended by representatives of all the partner agencies.
"Services in Cornwall have a long history of working in partnership to ensure that drug and alcohol using offenders are closely supervised and provided with opportunities to access treatment education, training employment and supported housing to ensure a reduction in offending and therefore making communities safer". said Lance Kennedy.
"ReZolve already make a positive contribution to the local community by restoring furniture and white goods. The opening of the new office at this site provides an amazing opportunity for local people on community sentences to get involved in this work and I am confident that the project will make a serious difference to local re offending at the same time as making the best use of available resources."
Detective Sergeant Kevin Dale, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said that partnership working had already had a significant impact on reoffending rates in Cornwall and he was sure that the development of the project would enable agencies to build on this success. "The reconviction rate of 50 persistent offenders in Cornwall reduced by 66% between the beginning of April 2009 and March 2010 compared to the same group the previous year" he said. "One of the key reasons for this has been the effective way in which the police has been working closely with its partners."
Among the offenders helped by the project is MH, a 41 year old woman who has both mental health issues and severe physical disabilities with a history of abuse who had previously been dependent on both heroin and crack. She was released from prison in December 2007 after being convicted of armed robbery and, since then, has turned her life around.
She has received support from a wide range of agencies over the past 18 months, including accommodation, long term support and supervision, emotional support, benefits advice and access to a wide range of creative activities. "I have now succeeded in turning my life around and have used the services available to me to make the best of my life"
she said.
Another success story is a 27 year old man who began using illegal substances at the age of 14. He first appeared before the courts in
1998 at the age of 17 and, since that time, has been in court 17 times for 56 offences, ranging from violent and abusive behaviour to acquisitive crime and has also been homeless.
When first placed on the scheme he was using up to £100 of heroin daily and was offending on a daily basis to fund his drug use. He received a wide range of support from agencies, including help with finding accommodation, access to health services and support from the Probation service in addressing his offending behaviour. As a result he has not been arrested or convicted for neatly 12 months and has now been removed from the scheme. "The scheme has given me the tools and pointed me in the right direction to help me change my life" he said, "It helped me stop offending, found me a home, staying drug free and has helped me get into college. It has made a huge difference to my life".
Jon Rolls, Chief Executive of ReZolve, said: "ReZolve is really excited to be involved in a collaboration like this which puts the needs of the individual first.
"Partnership is the only way to maximise positive outcomes, particularly in the face of economic uncertainty, and we are sure that by working together we will be offering new and exciting opportunities
to help people progress. As a Carbon Negative Social Enterprise, the
driver behind all of this for us is the environment, and our eventual aim is to provide a clear progression route into the environmental sector for all members of the community."
"We identified that there was a need for a facility in Cornwall that would be able to tackle the needs of the offenders in the local community and reduce the risk of re-offending. This can only be achieved in partnership with other agencies and community groups" said
Cornwall based Probation Officer Kerri Nason. "This exciting project
provides the necessary input from Probation, the Police, Drug and Alcohol services and Housing and combines it with the opportunity for
offenders to gain skills and employment through ReZolve. Currently
offenders have to travel long distances in order to access the treatment and programmes they need to change their lives.
"Providing a hub for the east of Cornwall from which we can run our programmes and services will reduce travel times and increase access into these services."
"People on probation often have complex needs" added Carol Baines, Probation Partnerships Manager for Cornwall. "Research shows that dealing with offender needs such as housing for example, helps to reduce the likelihood of further reoffending. Having a new probation reporting facility which offers access to help with accommodation, health, and other services means that the news office can be something of a one stop shop for those on probation, to help them be better citizens. This in turn will contribute to a safer community for everyone."
"This is an innovative partnership project which is for the benefit of clients providing assistance in health and well being, development, recovery and reintegration" said Louise Beard, Director of Housing & Support, Coastline Housing Ltd. ". We are proud to be part of this much needed service and look forward to enhancing and improving services in the future."
