Safe Welcome After Prison (SWAP)

SWAP is based in Halifax, and offers a service to offenders leaving prison.  It works in close partnership with a range of other agencies, including supporting housing services that house the offenders it supports in a block of flats.  SWAP assists with resettlement on release, through advice, practical help, mental health support, social activities, and peer support.  The people it helps generally have multiple complex needs – primarily mental health issues, drugs/alcohol dependency, and a range of social and domestic problems.

At the Trustees’ meeting in June 2020, the Foundation offered a grant of £6,000 to SWAP.  This is to fund the Seeds of Change Project.  The Project aims to renovate two large unkempt gardens at the block of flats, and establish a working vegetable and herb garden.  A horticultural trainer will oversee the initial set-up and training of volunteers and residents, and when up and running it will be wholly maintained and run by residents and volunteers.  The gardening project will provide a useful, therapeutic and meaningful activity for residents, and help with community relations as people will see the work being done and the local area being improved and transformed.

www.safewelcomeafterprison.com