Probation Board seeking volunteers for pilot plan to mentor offenders

Probation Board seeking volunteers for pilot plan to mentor offenders

30 January 2013

COULD you befriend an offender and potentially make your community safer?

If so the Probation Board for Northern Ireland wants to hear from you.

The organisers of a pilot volunteer mentoring scheme are keen to recruit volunteers from the Downpatrick area who can commit two to three hours per week.

No formal qualifications or experience are required with the Probation Board (PBNI) looking for “enthusiastic and caring members of the general public”.

Volunteer Mentors can assist offenders by, for example, helping them to comply with any probation orders, by offering a positive and reliable befriending relationship, providing practical support, helping to complete application forms, and providing support to those with addictions or mental health problems.

Lucia Kearney, Volunteer Mentor Co-ordinator, said the PBNI would provide full training, support and supervise volunteers throughout their mentoring experience and offer various opportunities to further develop their knowledge and skills.

“PBNI recognises the value that volunteer mentors can provide to support our work in making local communities safer by challenging and changing offenders’ behaviour,” she said. “We are now looking for individuals who can commit two to three hours each week to take up these posts.

“This is the time of year many people make resolutions to change their life. This could be you — maybe helping others or giving something back to your community is something you want to do more of this year? Many individuals with an offending background want to turn their lives around too but they need a bit of support to do so.

“Volunteering is a positive and constructive use of time and benefits not only the individual lives of the people you mentor but your local community too. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to develop one’s own experiences and CV.”

PBNI director, Brian McCaughey, said volunteers could offer a core support role to their work, with a distinctive but complementary role alongside paid PBNI staff.

“We are initially introducing a volunteer pilot scheme linked to our Downpatrick, North Down and South and East Belfast offices with the intention of full roll-out to all PBNI offices in 2013,” he said. “We are looking for volunteers who are aged over 18 years to take on this challenge and assist probation staff in reducing crime and preventing re-offending in communities.”

For more information in taking part in the scheme email volunteers@pbni.gsi.gov.uk, or visit the recruitment and volunteering section of the PBNI website www.pbni.org.uk for more information.