In September last year I became the Faith Alliance Co-ordinator with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in the North West. NOMS is part of the new Ministry of Justice, led by Jack Straw, whose role is to approach the delivery of offender programmes within the wider aim of social inclusion. Working with faith communities is an important way we can make contact with those ‘harder to reach’ in society. Let me talk about how I came to this role.

My background is with the Probation Service, which I joined in l987 working on a pilot bail intervention scheme. Qualifying as a Probation Offi cer three years later, I have not looked back since. The work has been demanding, stressful and frustrating. But, it has also been satisfying, enjoyable and fulfi lling in terms of the lives I’ve been able to change, not just for offenders but also their communities. As a professional woman, I am increasingly aware of how the voluntary sector can play a vital role in making our communities safer, stronger and more resilient. As a woman of faith, I understand how faith organisations have a unique expertise in reconciling offenders with their estranged families and friends, removing that sense of isolation and vulnerability that causes offenders to re-offend again and again. It made absolute sense, then, to accept the role as Faith Alliance Co-ordinator with NOMS because it allows me to bring these two strands of my life together.

This is not anything out of the ordinary. What I have been able to do in my personal life is simply a microcosm of how social inclusion throughout history has been brought about by organisations founded on principles of faith-driven charity.

Indeed, the establishment of the Probation Service was founded on a gift of fi ve shillings from Frederic Rainer in l876 to the Christian-based Temperance Society of England. Rainer stipulated that the money should be used to “rescue people” who fell into crime through alcohol abuse, which then as now was a causal factor in petty re-offending. Two missionaries were appointed in London courts whose role was to defl ect petty criminals from the capital’s overfl owing prisons. 30 years later, the Society had 124 missionaries plus 19 mission women. In recognition of the Society’s success, the Probation of Offenders Act was passed in l907 leading to the foundation of the National Probation Service. The Act turned voluntary pioneering into a statutory responsibility and enabled courts to release offenders on a Probation Order where Probation Offi cers would “advise, assist and befriend” them. Operating mostly from Probation Offi cers’ own homes or those of offenders, the service dealt not only with adults, but also juveniles from the age of 8 to 15 and matrimonial disputes involving care and custody of children. Today’s Probation Service now forms part of the NOMS, originally a Home Offi ce directorate and now based in the new Ministry of Justice set up to protect the public and reduce re-offending by 10% in 2010. However, the founding principles of the Probation Service remains, with offenders being assessed by Probation Offi cers to diagnose the underlying needs that lead to their offending behaviour and identify what interventions would assist them to reduce their offending.

Anyone who reads the news regularly will know that one of the major problems inhibiting an effective criminal justice system is our overcrowded prisons. This is having a knock-on effect for NOMS and its lead partners in being able to reduce re-offending by tackling individual offender need. I believe there is an opportunity here for all faith organisations to demonstrate how important a contribution they can make to offender management by working with offenders, whether believers or not.

I believe the morals and values held by faith organisations should be practiced through not only worship, but by being proactive and helping those who are marginalised and isolated.

Helping them to fi nd positive solutions to offending within their local communities rather than ‘suffering in silence’. Their presence and infl uence in their respective communities means that they can and should be effective partners in gaining the widest possible commitment to reducing re-offending and bringing about social inclusion.

My role, then, is to help these kinds of organisations and other faith projects to develop their capacity for working collaboratively in the criminal justice system. For faith people, it is good to pray, meditate and refl ect: these aspects brings us an inner strength and conviction to deal with the challenges life brings. But, it is also important to understand our faith in the context of making a difference for the better in our communities. One of the major concerns I have, in particular, is the increasing numbers of people with a faith being sentenced, with the largest increase after Christianity coming from the Muslim community.

Since taking on this responsibility what has become apparent is that there are many pockets of activity in the region engaged in constructive work with their communities. However they are often led by just one or two forward thinking and committed individuals which is quite a burden for so few so often.

It is important therefore that wider engagement with local communities takes place to attract more interest and involvement. This can only be achieved through raising awareness of what existing faith and non faith organisations are doing. One way of doing this is by running conferences. I have co-ordinated two separate conferences to raise the profi le of the public sectors work to the faith sector and vice versa. The fi rst conference was run in November 07 for Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria areas; however there was a limited attendance from faith organisations. The second conference took place on the 26th February entitled Believing We Can, covering Merseyside and Cheshire areas. The net has been cast as far and wide as possible, given the resources available, to give the faith and public sectors opportunities to come together and share views, concerns and ideas.

I would like to think that, in my small way, I am continuing in the tradition of Frederic Rainer, whose philanthropic gesture towards helping the socially excluded was manifest in his personal religious values and beliefs. This in my mind is also very much in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and all the Prophets before him. It is illustrated in the other Faiths through tales cited of Saints, Gurus, not to mention many “ordinary” people with drive and selfl ess motivation to make the world a better place by constructively helping others. The teachings of what I hope to achieve as Faith Alliance Co-ordinator is to bring all faith communities together in the region to make a joint impact on reducing reoffending with our particular expertise and experience. That would be a fi tting legacy to Mr. Rainer. I hope you will agree and join me to discuss and share your concerns and ideas of how we can take this issue forward.

I would welcome contact from anyone interested in developing this work to contact me at: Assia Shah, Faith Alliance Co-ordinator, NOMS, 17th Floor City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BE; Tel: 0161 952 4180. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it