A vital service that helps former prisoners 'break the cycle' of jail time has opened a new centre in the heart of Bolton.
The new community hub, run by Bolton Community Advice with a range of other groups, was opened on Oxford Street.
In a speech to a crowd of staff, volunteers, service users and supporters chief executive Steve Fisher explained how their project had been inspired to help prisoners back to leading normal lives.
He said: “So we had an idea to go and meet people at the gate, bring them into the town and help them.”
He added: “Probation do a great job but for all the little pebbles they pick up some drift off, they fall back and they go back to prison.
“And we wanted to try and do what we can as a community organisation to try and break that cycle.”
Mr Fisher explained how Bolton Community Advice could trace its origins back to Bolton Socialist Club in the 1980s and had become inspired to help work with people on probation after seeing the success of a similar project in Salford.
The centre on Oxford Street will now offer advice, in-depth local knowledge and bring together a range of community groups to get people the help they need.
It also helps provide a relaxed “living room”, with photographs on display by locally renowned photographer Don Tonge, for people who may not have experienced and environment like this before.
One of the organisations represented was the Bolton Thai Boxing Club, run by Sandy Holt, which runs specials sessions at 2pm on a Sunday at its St Georges Road centre.
Mr Holt said: “Steve’s helped reform a lot of people.
“We’re running a project for people at the moment who are on probation, who maybe have been unemployed or who suffer from depression, we run a special programme for them.”
“We’re focusing just as much on mind health, which is a term I prefer to use to mental health, as we are with physical health.”
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Kate Green, who’s role includes policing and public safety, was also at the event.
She said: “Mental health is often a big factor for a lot of people, substance abuse and other issues tend to be a big background to a lot of serious offending.
“So what this is about is bringing all these agencies together to help people deal with this.
“It’s all about making sure that people have got the best chance of going straight.”
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She added: “Its also about getting good value for money for the public, preventing people from committing crimes and reoffending.”
Bolton Council leader Nick Peel said that he believed this could be good for the rest of the borough as well.
He said: “People leaving prison will often end up back inside and are often struggling with a number of issues.
“This charity, based in Bolton, helps Bolton residents to overcome these hurdles and get back to law abiding society again.”
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