REAPING REWARDS

If we reap what we sow the participants of an allotment project in Liverpool can look forward to a summer of fresh green beans, delicious corn on the cob, sautéed spinach with fresh coriander and a vase full of sunflowers on the table.

By Jo Henwood BACK TO MY ROOTS

The Resettle initiative between Mersey Care and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service helps ex offenders, who have served long sentences behind bars, find their place again in society.

The allotment was waist height in weeds when police officer Caroline O’Brien, the brainchild behind the project, first took it on.

“It hadn’t been tended for some time but we first got it in lockdown so it was an ideal opportunity to get stuck in to clearing it and deciding what we wanted to grow.”

Martin spent 29 years in custody before leaving prison in 2020. When he was last a free man fewer than half of us had a mobile phone, Gmail was only just available to Google employees and no one was paying for their shopping with a watch.

He now has six months left on the two year Resettle project which has helped him find a flat, get his driving licence back, buy a car, set up a bank account and keep fit through cycling. “I left prison during lockdown,” says Martin. “Which was a godsend in a way because things were so quiet. I wasn’t used to the fast pace of life.”

It made some things more difficult though and Martin viewed a lot of properties before he was able to secure permanent accommodation which he is now proudly making ‘home’.

“I have got my curtains up my television, but there is still a lot of work to do. The scenery out of my front window is beautiful.”

Martin’s delight at owning a ‘proper fridge’ is evident and he is looking forward to freezing the fruit and vegetables which he has tended so well on the allotment.

“I have made leek and potato soup, chicken and spinach curry and pies,” he says proudly before describing a recent vegetarian pasta creation with spring cabbage, hot chilli and virgin olive oil.

Mersey Care consultant psychologist Sue Ryan says: “The community isn’t very welcoming to people who have offended. Many of the people we work with on the Resettle project have been given very little opportunity in life to thrive.”

“When they leave custody, we have to support them in navigating how the world works and developing human skills like patience, tolerance and negotiating. Practically they need support in finding housing, claiming benefits, cooking food and using public transport.

“We offer them opportunities, like the allotment, to help discover and understand who they are so that they can shape their identity and find a future for themselves.”

Caroline, who is naturally nurturing and empathetic, added: “The allotment offers a safe place to have conversations while you are digging or planting.”

The success of the Resettle project can be measured in the low level of reoffending but Martin sums it up more succinctly. He said: “When you leave prison, you may no longer have family or friends. This is worth its weight in gold.”