Approved Premises
Some people leaving prison after serving their sentence are still considered to be ‘high risk of harm’ to the public. These people are required to live on Approved Premises (APs) run by the National Probation Service for their first 3-6 months in the community. There is a national shortage of places available, so people are often sent to APs that are far away from their homes and families, isolating them from positive influences and opportunities to find meaningful employment.
Due to their status as high risk to the public, they are also less likely to receive support from other voluntary agencies while living in the premises and may struggle to access support in the immediate community. Loneliness increases, making it harder to improve personal circumstances. Footprints stop this by providing the support they need to build a life away from crime.
Our Support
Staff and volunteers from The Footprints Project are working with five approved premises in Dorset and Hampshire. We run drop-ins where people can gain employability skills and advice including preparing their CVs, creating job searches, and applying for courses. Additionally, we run mental-health support in the Grange AP, where a retired GP teaches mental-health workshops and coping mechanisms.
As part of the support, we run classes in cookery, gardening and previously in woodworking. We manage allotments where residents can develop their gardening and social skills by working as a community to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit. In the cookery, we teach budgeting and simple cooking. Participants learn how to cook affordable meals that are easy, budget friendly and most importantly tasty.
Participants in the classes are given the opportunity to earn an NVQ Level 2 in Food Hygiene or a Level 3 in Horticulture. These opportunities allow people on the APs to gain employment certifications and move into meaningful employment.
In the past, we have taught woodworking and carpentry where participants developed skills in the craft and social skills with other participants. The instructor who ran these has moved on but we are eager to get it running again. If you think you can help, contact info@footprintsproject.co.uk.
“You have already set up and run an enormously successful cooking group which has meant that many of our residents have been able to try new experiences and prove to themselves that they had skills they didn’t know they had. What on the face of it appears to be a simple cooking group, has taught our residents about budgeting, health, hygiene, patience, co-operation and communication skills.” Sarah Townley-Walker, Manager, Weston Approved Premises
Impact of our AP Work
The work we run on APs is essentially for many of the people we support. In the last year, Footprints supported 80 people residing in APs in Dorchester and Hampshire.
34 people attended skill courses with 6 individuals gaining Level 2 or Level 3 certificates
21 people helped on allotments
46 people attended drop-in and 16 individuals were helped with employability skills
41 people increased their access to community support
Furthermore, our AP work received the 2020 Award for Valuable Service to the Community from the High Sheriff of Hampshire.
