As Met-Track continues to develop its many wings of activity toward pointing young Londoners in the right direction, seven pupils from Barking and Dagenham College visited Category D prison Blantyre House, in Sussex, and got a first hand taste of just what custody is like.The young people, aged 15 and 16, who had all been excluded from schools in the past, got a tour of the establishment, but most significantly, had 90 minutes' interactive input from four serving prisoners who were all completing long-term sentences - one serving life for murder, another an extended term for armed robbery.
The presentations included how these inmates got into trouble at first, and eventually received custodial sentences. Their presentation represented the most striking deterrent to anyone contemplating behaviour that risked a prison sentence. They described in graphic detail their experiences, and gave a first hand account of exactly what to expect when you receive a prison term. Their young audience remained completely captivated throughout.
Blantyre House houses prisoners whose behaviour elsewhere has merited their move to what is essentially a resettlement prison for inmates soon to be re-integrated into society, similar to the Latchmere House establishment that has worked with Met-Track in the past.
"This looked like it was a real wake-up call for some of the young people there," said Scheme Manager Jason Hussain. "When the guys introduced themselves and talked so openly about their lives inside, I doubt anyone could fail to be completely absorbed with what they had to say. Most importantly though, it should be a huge deterrent for these young people to go down an offending route in life, because that is exactly where these guys began."
Met-Track Scheme Director, John Powell, said: "This is something I want to link into as many Met-Track schemes as possible. We also want to get the prisoners out to see the young people in Met-Track training environments and striking up a rapport that mentors them away from offending or anti-social behaviour.
"There will of course be people who have doubts as to the appropriateness of this programme: well I would say to them they should come to the prison and listen to one of the presentations themselves, because it is something you will remember for a long time."
Met-Track is continuing to expand around London this year, and schemes including prisoner mentoring are high on the project's list of priorities. A large proportion of the young people who take part in the scheme in boroughs all over the Capital do not go on to offend or reoffend, and the partnership working with the Prison Service is seen as very much part of the deterrent process.
See also http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4736691.stm
