The CFO Activity Hubs, from the HMPPS Co-financing Organisation and part funded by the European Social Fund, are designed to increase engagement with mainstream or core services.
The CFO Activity Hubs provide safe, supportive and welcoming spaces for offenders to access support, advice and guidance, and interact with positive role models. Offenders will be able to access support for accommodation, health, finance and debt, education, employment and training.
Activity hubs are located in the community in Durham, Middlesbrough and Darlington and offer innovative activities and interventions to empower and support participants on their rehabilitation journey.
Ingeus are also delivering the only pilot scheme focusing on veterans in custody which will operate from HMP Holme House in Stockton on Tees.
Media
Media is central to our lives. It tells us about the world we live in, about what we are doing and about who we are and our role and worth in society. Because of its ubiquitous nature we do not realise the scope and power of its influence.
The Hub Media project is a response to this problem by providing participants with an opportunity to have control of the content creation. The participants will act as the producer and creator. They will select the type of media product they want to create and then an experienced media practitioner will help facilitate its creation. Depending upon the available resources these projects could include podcasts, TV shows, live YouTube streams, animations etc. The emphasis of the project will be to give the participants the skills to be able to create content with resources that are readily accessible to them.
The participants will discover through their process of making the media product, a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the form and from that understanding they will be more equipped to deal with it’s more negative impact when exposed.
Drama
At East Durham College we believe that to be able to understand the concept of Human Citizenship, and to be able to reflect on social factors around them, they must first feel human.
Key to this is providing users with a voice. The project will involve the creation and performance of new work with the participants through a process of interview, discussion, and exploration to produce verbatim theatre. Through the exploration of existing texts/work the participants will be given the opportunity to experience and explore different worlds beyond their immediate frame of reference.
Activities will be led by skilled practitioners with extensive experience in devising and improvisation, but the direction of the session will be made collaboratively with the participants ensuring that throughout the creative process the artistic voice of the participant is central to the project and allowed to develop and gain in confidence and control.
Funding
The project is funded via HM Prison & Probation Service Co-financing Organisation (HMPPS CFO). HMPPS CFO is a European Social Fund resettlement support programme which delivers projects aimed at improving employability, which are seen as key to changing lives and reducing reoffending. To learn more about the work of HMPPS CFO, please visit https://www.co-financing.org