We provide restorative justice interventions in response to crime and anti-social behaviour committed in the community and in response to incidents and violence that occur in custodial settings.

Where it is safe and both parties are willing, restorative approaches give victims of harm opportunities to communicate with perpetrators in order to explain the impact of offending on them and have their questions answered. This enables people who have committed offences to develop empathy, learn about the impact of their offending on others and find ways of making amends or restoring relationships. 

We currently deliver Restorative Services as part of the Youth to Adulthood Hub, in Newham, as well as in HMP Coldingley, HMP/YOI Isis, HMP The Mount, and HMP Featherstone. We also accept referrals from the community.

When evaluating our restorative approaches programmes in custody, we found a significant reduction in custodial violence and antisocial behaviour associated with engagement in our restorative approaches services (based on data in regards to 72 participants across HMP The Mount, HMP Coldingley and HMP/YOI Isis).

• Involvement in violence decreased by 89%
• Involvement in threatening and antisocial behaviour decreased by 63%

Last year, Belong delivered restorative justice and one to one support for 620 prisoners and prison staff who were victims or perpetrators in violent or antisocial behaviour incidents at HMPYOI Isis, HMP The Mount, HMP Featherstone and HMP Coldingley.

Mohammed’s Story:

Mohammed had recently started serving a sentence at HMP Featherstone. A conversation he had with Officer Okot about delays with his belongings arriving at the prison escalated into a heated exchange whereby Mohammed was rude and abusive to Officer Okot, and then assaulted him. A hearing was held a few days later so that a prison Governor could ensure Mohammed was held to account for his actions. The situation was referred to Belong’s restorative justice service and I initially spoke to both Officer Okot and Mohammed separately. In telling me what had happened and how he’d been impacted, Officer Okot said that he and Mohammed had built a good rapport after Mohammed’s arrival at the prison, and that he was therefore shocked when Mohammed had assaulted him. The incident had worried his family, and he had considered finding another job as a result. He expressed that he would like to know why Mohammed had acted that way when he had been trying to help him.

When I talked to Mohammed, he took responsibility for his actions and wanted to apologise to Officer Okot for the harm he had caused. He also wanted Officer Okot to know that he didn’t have anything personal against him but that he had been extremely stressed and frustrated that day about not having his belongings. I was able to share this information with Officer Okot on Mohammed’s behalf. Following this, they both agreed to put the incident behind them and move forward, maintaining a professional relationship.

What our participants say:

“The RJ helped me to realise that it’s not wise or clever to let things build up, and to talk openly and honestly.”

“I really appreciate the fact that (the Belong team) support and care about me. It has been the best thing in my life…I often think back to how kind and respectful (the RJ facilitators) were to me. Its one of the fondest memories I have, despite the circumstances…. Working with the psychotherapy service has helped me massively and shown me that there is good in this world.”