The Power of Peer Mentoring

On 6 April 2022, Russell Webster and David Breakspear of the co-production team were the interviewees on the latest edition of the Catch22 podcast “Catch22 Minutes” (you’ve guessed it, each episode is 22 minutes long). We talked about the guide an all the issues about peer volunteers. In the podcast, David talks about how being met at the gate on release from his last (and final!) prison sentence by a peer supporter was a key moment in helping him turn his life around.

Much of the UK’s criminal justice sector recruits people with lived experience of the justice system as volunteer supporters. These ‘peer mentors’ or ‘peer volunteers’ take on a range of different roles within organisations, both within prisons and in the community, hugely supporting services. Peer volunteers can benefit from the experience of giving back and improving their own self-confidence, and evidence suggests peer volunteering amongst prisoners can also prevent re-offending. The podcast explores most of these issues.

If you fancy a listen, here’s the link.