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By: Rachel Billington

Rachel joins a huge crowd at the Prison Ministry Conference and attends a celebration of four years work by the Feltham Community Chaplaincy Trust followed by a guided tour of Westminster Abbey

Towards the end of last year, I attended several events which show faith being turned to very positive uses in prison. It made me interested in how big a role organised religion – not only Christian but of every belief – plays in providing help for prisoners wishing to turn round their lives.

Religious belief is not for everyone. Some, like one of our correspondents last month (Steven Relf), make fun of Christian theology which admittedly includes doctrine easy enough to ridicule. It is a big leap of faith to accept the virgin birth or, for Catholics, the transformation of a wafer of bread into the body of Christ. This month, Charles Hanson argues the case for atheism and, as a person who does not believe in life after death, thinks the odds are on his side in maintaining that position.

In November, the Prison Ministry Conference drew in a huge crowd at the Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London. The day started unusually with a hymn heralding God, How Great Thou Art and sung with gusto by everyone – including me, I should say. The principle speakers were preceded by the Reverend Nicky Gumbel, vicar of the Holy Trinity. Clearly, this was not a day when religion was planning to creep up from behind.

The conference was organised by Caring for Ex-Offenders which has on its board the high profile ex-offender and prison campaigner Jonathan Aitken, who was at the conference although not speaking. CFEO is a Christian charity working under the umbrella of Alpha, a huge international organisation which has been running its courses in UK prisons for many years. At the moment it is represented in over 70% of prisons with a full course running at ten weeks, a super fast version at one week and the standard at six. Alpha works under the Christian prison chaplain of whatever Christian denomination. Later we were to hear from a prisoner on the affect a course had on his life.

First of all, two Conservative politicians and members of the shadow cabinet took to the floor. The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP is not only a former shadow leader of the party but also the Founder and Chairman of The Centre for Social Justice. His Catholicism is well known and his Centre has already built a reputation for its informed questioning of the government’s attitude towards criminal justice and the treatment of prisoners.

Duncan Smith is unusual for a current politician as he had a previous career both in the Scots Guards and as a businessman. He said that his centre was founded ‘as a response to deep-rooted social breakdown.’ And that ‘we’re all concerned to see the transformation of our society.’ He stressed the importance of links between voluntary and government organisations, and referred to his Centre’s report Breakthrough Britain. He produced a raft of figures to support his view of the problems facing UK society, including the fact that whereas 50% of the population in European countries have confidence their governments are tackling violent crime, only 25% believe it here, despite our much higher prison figures. He ended with an eight point plan which began by calling for the abandonment of NOMS and ended by emphasising the importance of training so that ex-prisoners can find employment. If the Conservative Party win the election in May, his views could be those of our Home Secretary or Ministry of Justice.

It was hard to give Alan Duncan MP the same credence. He was demoted to Shadow Minister for Prisons after inadvisedly chatting to the press about MP’s pay. His address, however, was filled with good sense, taking overcrowding as the worst problem and pointing out that rehabilitation in prison ‘should be the essence not the luxury’, and promising to launch a ‘Rehabilitation Revolution.’ He also pointed out the over-centralisation of NOMS. Perhaps his most original point was to remind us of that great social reformer Sir William Beveridge’s five evils: ‘Want; Disease; Ignorance; Squalor and Idleness’. Duncan commented that we seem to have produced all five in prison.

Happily Shane, an ex-prisoner and billed as one of the most notorious criminals in UK jails, was an example of a more hopeful future. He told us about the change in his life when he went on an Alpha course and decided to ‘sort himself out’. Later, I met his pregnant wife and young child. As an example of change, this young family was extraordinarily evocative.

During one of the conference coffee breaks, I prowled round the stalls lining the walls of the hall. Each one represented an NGO working with prisoners or ex-prisoners. Most (or perhaps all – I wasn’t doing a survey) had religious faith at the heart of their work. This doesn’t mean they were necessarily looking for converts. Some, such as BETEL, offer long term residential care to those with substance abuse, alcohol or homelessness related problems. They originated in Spain and now have four houses in Birmingham, Derby, London and Nottingham, where men can be cared for and helped to get away from drugs, drink and depression. They advertise No waiting, No entrance fees, No addictive substances.

The Prison Fellowship (one of the conference’s sponsors) also organises Christian volunteers to help all those affected by crime. It is structured through a network of prayer groups around England and Wales and runs national programmes such as Sycamore Tree and Angel Tree. The latter has just finished helping prisoners to send personalised presents to their children. Other organisations represented included Sanctuary which provides training and support for churches who have sex offenders in their congregations and the Community Chaplaincy of London who work to help ex-prisoners settle into the community.

I was particularly interested in this since, not long before the Prison Ministry conference, I’d been invited to attend a celebration for four years of work by the Feltham Community Chaplaincy Trust. Speakers were the great David Ramsbotham and the Reverend Nims Obunge, Chief Executive of the London Peace Alliance. I’d been contacted by Lucia do Rosario, the CEO of the Trust (see photograph with Nathan, an ex-prisoner and mentee and Annie, a mentor) who was keen I should meet some of the mentors. They come from all creeds and backgrounds, including Christian, Muslim and Hindu. The three I spoke to were all youngish and serious about the young men they were trying to help – one had been following the path of his mentee in and out of prison and then in again. He didn’t see this as a failure but looked to a good outcome in the future.

Also present were a couple of ex-offenders, including Nathan, who was mentored by Alan; as it happens a man old enough to be his grandfather. Maybe that was one of the reasons the relationship worked. There was a nice little documentary film showing them chatting together in a café. Nathan talked about being with him, ‘Alan was someone who I could trust and talk to without feeling judged. When I first came out, I couldn’t even get benefits; Alan helped me with that, he gave me confidence to keep trying. That helped me to stay straight and soon after I got a job.’

Annie Smallwood, another mentor who worked with a young man who managed to leave behind crime, said, ‘I couldn’t believe how open and honest he was right from the start. It’s been an amazing and rewarding experience.’ Since 2005 when the Trust began, 100 young men have been helped and only 30% have returned to prison compared to the national average of 75%.

The celebration was held in a room adjoining Westminster Abbey and after the meeting we were taken on a special guided tour though the great building, empty of the usual tourists. Our host and guide, the Reverend Professor Nicholas Sogovsky, Canon Theologian of Westminster, led us to up the aisle to the high altar and told us about the history of the church, which was founded as a Benedictine Monastery in 960, became the place of coronation with William the Conqueror in 1066 and was built in its present form by Henry III in 1245. The sense of history is immense and I suddenly realised we were passing the spot where I’d sat with my mother at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

For those who aren’t interested in the royal line of kings there is also Poet’s Corner where Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Byron, Betjeman and many other greats are buried.

The Abbey is also, of course, a place of prayer for millions of ordinary people over the centuries. I seem to have come a long way from my enquiries about how faith enters and helps the prison world. In the end it is for each individual to recognise their needs and reach for what helps them. What is undeniable is that religion, in various guises, is holding out the hand of welcome.