Switchback
London-based prison rehabilitation charity
Switchback supports 18-30 year old prison-leavers to make real, lasting change through intensive one-to-one support and real work training.
Switchback’s purpose is to enable young men to find a way out of the justice system and build a stable, rewarding life they can be proud of.
They stick by their ‘Trainees’ as they move through the prison gate, encouraging and challenging them to take control, enter work and build a more stable life for themselves. This is new territory for most ‘Trainees’: a frank, non-judgemental relationship with someone who is there for them on a daily basis.
The Cause
It takes a huge amount of hard work and determination to change your life after prison and Trainees make an extraordinary choice to take the difficult journey with Switchback. Many of the Trainees we work with face a complex matrix of challenges such as:
- Face homelessness on or shortly after release
- Have an addict’s relationship with crime
- Have highly complex family relationships and young children of their own
- Know very little about the workplace and society’s infrastructures and systems
- Respond to new or challenging situations with aggression or anger.
“When I first came into Switchback I’d feel so uncomfortable I could hardly speak. Switchback totally changed how I thought about myself.
I’ve learned that it’s not about taking the fast route, taking the long route is more beneficial in the end. I’ve done so much more than I thought I could.”
What they do
How Switchback tackle these problems
We offer these young men the long-term, unconditional support that prison, probation or re-settlement services cannot and act as an anchor amongst all the people he will come into contact with, guiding him to take control across all areas of his life.
Switchback Mentors work intensively with these men three months prior to release, through the gate and into employment with the average length of contact being 16 months. We make it our mission to change the way prison-leavers think about and participate in society, enabling them to lead stable, rewarding lives.
9%
Nationally around half of prison-leavers return to prison within one year of release. We are proud that for Switchback Trainees this is currently just 9%.
64%
Since they opened their doors in 2008, 64% of Trainees completed Switchback’s intensive mentoring programme and achieved ‘Real Lasting Change’ in their lives.
46%
of Trainees had started a permanent job, apprenticeship or further/higher education course within the first 12 months post-release.