A new property offering accommodation and support to help steer people away from a life of crime has been set up in Surrey as part of a drive to reduce reoffending in the county.
The Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office has teamed up with Your Ambition, a charity associated to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company (KSS CRC) part of the Seetec Group, to provide funding for four beds in this house located in the Waverley area, which they recently visited.
The property is run by Transform Housing & Support who has been providing services for ex-offenders in Surrey for nearly 50 years.
The opening of the new property means Transform has a total of 33 bed-spaces in nine shared properties across the county around Redhill, Merstham, Leatherhead, Dorking and Farnham. PCC and KSS CRC now provides funding for a total of eight of those spaces.
The accommodation is a fully furnished shared house with up to four people sharing. All clients have private bedrooms and have access to a communal kitchen, lounge and bathroom as well as laundry facilities.
Potential clients must have a history of offending or be considered to be at risk of offending and demonstrate a desire to change and address their offending behaviour.
The objective is to provide a secure environment in which clients are supported to recognise the triggers behind their previous offending, to take responsibility and make changes to reduce the likelihood of it reoccurring in future.
Between 30 to 40 Surrey residents are released from prison back into society every month and around one in five of those have no permanent place to live. This increases to one in two people in terms of prolific offenders who often have complex needs created by issues such as drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues.
Around £250,000 was set aside from the PCC’s Community Safety Fund over the last year to finance projects aimed at reducing reoffending across the county.
PCC David Munro said:
“The biggest single problem facing those released from prison is a lack of accommodation; this can significantly reduce the chances of individuals avoiding the path back to reoffending and making a fresh start.
“Reducing re-offending in Surrey is a really important focus for my office and this is exactly the kind of scheme that can support those who may have recently been through the criminal justice system and are trying to get their lives back on track.
“I believe if it can help stop them drifting back into crime, then the communities in which they live will also benefit.”
