Longford Trust visit

On Tuesday 8th September, our Sixth Form cohort were visited by the Longford Trust; a charitable organisation that raises awareness of criminal justice issues, pushes for necessary reforms and helps ex- and serving prisoners make the most of their rehabilitation and offers them the opportunity to complete their education while still serving their sentences behind bars by awarding annual scholarships to a number of ex- and serving prisoners to complete a university degree through the Open University.

Peter Stanford, Director of the Longford Trust and a renowned Journalist and prison reform advocate, spoke to our Sixth Formers about how he came to be involved with the Trust, what his role is within it, the challenges facing young people who find themselves on the wrong side of the law and what the Longford Trust offers these young people while in prison. He then introduced two people, Raheem and Beatrice, who had both experienced prison as young people but had been able to complete their university education with support and guidance from the Longford Trust.

Raheem explained how he has now completed his Masters in Aerospace Engineering after spending most of his time in prison with no access to the internet while trying to study for his degree. He expanded on that by telling everyone how difficult this was for him to then make friendships once he was allowed to attend lectures in person. Beatrice is in the last year of her degree course in Criminology and aspires to work in the Probation Service after graduating. She explained how one wrong move changed the course of her life in ways she never imagined and how it has been a real challenge to reintegrate now she can attend lectures in person. Her lecturers are themselves reformed prisoners and have helped her come to terms with this in a very positive and affirming way.

Overall, the talk was very well received by our students and they asked extremely pertinent and, at times, very insightful questions of the speaking panel at the end.

At the end of the presentation, our students were offered the opportunity to create the artwork for an event that the Longford Trust is facilitating in November in London and also the opportunity to attend the event in a support function as ‘meet and greet’ ambassadors for the Trust. More details on this can be obtained from Mrs Moore, Sixth Form Administrator and Future Pathways Coordinator.