Head of Service, Crossreach
CrossReach Recovery Services in Glasgow (The Abstinence Service and Whiteinch Supported Accommodation) provide support to women and men who have experienced problems with alcohol or drugs.
Women can access the services via various routes including from the community, hospital, crisis services, prison and homelessness services. For many of the women, alcohol and drugs is a major component in their offending behaviour, but that in itself usually stems from past trauma, either in childhood or in adult life – there is an abundance of evidence to support this, you can read for examples previous articles in the Community Justice Partnerships 2019/20 Annual Reporter – ‘Multiple Disadvantage – At the Root of Offending Behaviour’ or ‘Meeting the Challenges from the Roots up’
CLICK THE PICTURE LINKS BELOW TO ACCESS THE ARTICLES
Women are supported with a dedicated keyworker and in therapeutic group settings, to live life free from substances, to build confidence and self-esteem, and to improve their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Gender specific groups are provided in a safe, psychologically informed environment. We link with specialist supports for psychological help to address past trauma, and staff are trained to the appropriate level in Trauma support.
Some of our staff team have lived experience of recovery from problematic substance use and involvement in the justice system. They and our peer volunteers, trained through the CrossReach Volunteer Training programme, are vital in modelling ‘hope’ to women who have started to lose hope in life and in providing inspiration and encouragement through the journey of change.
In addition to working closely with partners in the justice system CrossReach has good working relationships with community groups and women supported are offered a wide range of opportunities to help them in their recovery and to give them daily structure in their lives – doing things that they want to do. Partners include:
CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO VISIT THE WEBSITES:
Re-building relationships with families and children is also encouraged at the right time. Part of their support is to take responsibility for dealing with justice matters, engaging with Justice Social Workers, Probation Officers and lawyers. Often that includes support to complete community payback orders.
CrossReach are represented on the Glasgow Working Group on Women and Offending and have a passion for helping women move away from re-offending and achieving long-term goals. Staff accompany women in a supportive capacity to Court appearances and letters of support are provided to the Clerk of Court. We regularly get notes of appreciation for our contribution to the change that women are achieving: e.g. gratitude for a comprehensive report outlining the significant progress the woman had made, which had a positive impact on the outcome of the disposal of the case. On another occasion the Sheriff read the letter of support and said it was helpful and influential in the Court reaching a decision to defer sentence – Sheriff A:
“CrossReach provides an excellent service and if they provide a good report in May 2022, I will consider a sentence which is not custodial and I may admonish on all charges”.
The young woman expressed her thanks for being accompanied to court and she said this support had made the difficult experience of attending Glasgow Sheriff Court a lot easier.
With support, women are learning new ways of coping with past trauma, they have stopped using substances, and their offending has also stopped. In addition to this they have seen improvements to their physical and mental health, they have safe accommodation and are building self-esteem through positive use of their time. The positive ripple effect is felt as their family relationships improve and as they contribute to recovery communities in the city.
