About Prison Me No Way
Who are we and what do we do?
Three prison officers who wanted to discourage young people from a life of crime started the Prison! Me! No Way! (PMNW) programme in Hull in 1993 – which is now referred to in the UK as the ‘No Way Trust’.
After reading about the initiative, officers from the States of Jersey Police and HMP La Moye travelled to the UK on a fact-finding mission to see how Jersey could benefit from the scheme. As a result, PMNW Jersey was formed as a joint police and prison initiative, designed and delivered by volunteer officers to reflect the needs of the community.
PMNW Jersey is an independent Jersey registered charity with volunteer officers who design and deliver programmes on the consequences of crime to schools in Jersey. The key programme co-ordinators are; Police Constables Karen Houston, Simon Cross and Peter Whitehouse from the States of Jersey Police and Officer Barry Sleddon from HMP La Moye. All are qualified as teachers in adult education and have completed relevant training on the PMNW programme and child protection.
PMNW Jersey is a self-funded voluntary scheme which obtains its funding from a strategic alliance with Home Affairs, The States of Jersey Housing Department, Education Sport and Culture and the Lloyds TSB Foundation. This is a three year partnership which commenced in January 2007.
Since its inception, the local branch has evolved into an initiative, which is playing an important part in effecting behaviour change amongst up and coming generations as they enter their formative years.
An Executive Committee was formed in July 2005 and in June 2006 following a traditional recruitment process; the Executive appointed a full-time dedicated co-ordinator, PC Karen Houston who is on secondment from the States of Jersey Police. This appointment has enabled PMNW to deliver programmes into every Island primary and secondary school and conduct Community Days at housing estate ‘hotspots’ and support the States of Jersey Police on Focus Operations at key times of year – Halloween for example.
PMNW Jersey has also obtained a town office at the former town police station in the Royal Square to enable the further development of the scheme within the Island.
Our Mission Statement is:
The aim of ‘Prison! Me! No Way!!! Jersey’ is to raise the awareness of young people in the Island about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime, by using a non threatening and non lecturing style of education. We hope to dissuade young people away from a life of crime, by using a multi agency approach, which will give young people information enabling them to make informed life choices to help them grow into responsible citizens and hopefully reduce the devastating effects of criminal behaviour on society.
We live in a rapidly changing and challenging world, where young people of today face far more difficult choices than those of previous generations; the continued success of the PMNW programme is in recognising young people as our community’s greatest asset and its hope for the future. Finding out what the needs of our young people are and to fill those needs are our challenge.
For many of our children and young people, alcohol, tobacco, anti-social behaviour and illegal drugs use is their reality. At a young and impressionable age many are exposed to a variety of substances, which can blight their lives forever. It is therefore increasingly important that they receive accurate information that enables them to recognise the benefits and values of adopting positive lifestyles. An integral feature of our work is the need to investigate the causes and consequences of crime, its effects upon the local community and the impact upon its victims.
We work pro-actively with the Islands’ Secondary Schools to deliver a series of Crime and Safety Awareness Days to achieve our ultimate objective, which is to help and encourage our youth to recognise the benefits of learning and developing a sense of the true values that make them responsible citizens in the community.
