COMMUNITY CHAMPION: Rehabilitation through reskilling

Sunday 28 April 2024

When it comes to upskilling or reskilling there is one sector of our community which might sometimes be overlooked. The prison.

With a resident population of a few dozen, Les Nicolles is home to men and women of different ages, with different skills, facing differing challenges.

Part of the reason each are living within the confines of Les Nicolles is rehabilitation, which includes work to prepare them for a return to “normal life” (whatever that may be...).

Work is a big part of living within a community and Les Nicolles Prison states that its mission is to provide inmates with “values, skills, and experience to take a positive role in the community upon release”.

At Les Nicolles the provision of values and skills includes academic lessons in a variety of subjects.

For those wanting to further build their personal resources while in prison there is also CLIP.

Pictured: Examples of some of the work carried out by CLIP.

The ‘creative learning in prison’ programme is focused on “supporting prisoners by delivering education, employment, and other meaningful and productive activities”.

Launched in 2013, initially to “promote creative activities for prisoners which are meaningful and productive”, the charity’s remit has expanded during the decade since. 

The charity continues to work with the prison and other organisations to prepare inmates for employment “by providing them with invaluable life skills which supports their rehabilitation, so they are better equipped for life in the local community”.

It now operates within four workshops, and other facilities, developed at Les Nicolles, where prisoners can develop their skills. These include the main workshop, carpentry workshop, indoor assembley area, and education block. 

As their names indicate – each workshop offers a focus on different trades and skills.

The indoor assembly workshop trains people in making and mending things like guernseys, medals, and painting items built in the carpentry workshop.

Within each workshop there are also further sub sections such as barbers, an IT suite, restoration centres, and a plumbing classroom.

The charity can’t provide all the opportunities it needs to on its own though, so partnerships have been forged with businesses and other charities to provide meaningful work for the residents of Les Nicolles, with many continuing these career paths when they have finished their prison sentence.

You might have seen evidence of CLIP’s influence on island life without even realising it too. 

There are benches, flower planters, and bird boxes all across the islands made in the prison workshop.

Your guernsey might have been hand finished by an inmate. Your locally roasted coffee beans may have been packed by one.

Pictured: CLIP was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021.

These opportunities have benefitted numerous lives since the charity launched in 2013, and in 2021 it was recognised for the positive impact it has had on our community when it was named as a recipient of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Now rebranded as the King's Award for Voluntary Service, the award was established in 2002 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is equivalent to an MBE and is the highest honour awarded to voluntary groups nationally.

CLIP was named as a Bailiwick recipient in June 2021, alongside the RNLI.

This article first appeared in the April edition of CONNECT, Express' sister publication. 

The latest edition of CONNECT can be read HERE.