Following on from the recent news that we have resumed recruiting and training new volunteer mentors, we are launching a recruitment drive for our project based at HMP/YOI Isis.

Isis is one of three London prisons Trailblazers works in, and is located in Plumstead, South-East London. It is a category C resettlement prison for young men based in the London region and it mostly accommodates men who fall within the 18 to 25-year-old age bracket that we work with.

After the enforced pause in our recruitment process due to the Covid-19 lockdown, we are now welcoming new applications as we begin the process of recruiting volunteers mentor young men that are coming up for release from Isis in the new year.

As part of the Adapted Service Mentoring (ASM)  we have brought in, our Isis Project Manager, Ezgi, and Community Support Worker, Angus, have been engaging with young men who would like a mentor a few weeks before their release. As the ASM only begins in earnest from the day of release (with no volunteers allowed inside Isis prison at the moment), volunteer applicants do not have to be based particularly close to the prison; we will accept applications from across London and the surrounding area.

Despite adapting our service, we remain very much committed to providing a full prison mentoring service, beginning up to 9 months before release, when it is assessed as being safe to do so. We will continue to put any new mentors that we recruit and train through the prison vetting process (which can take some time) so they are cleared to mentor in prisons once this is again permitted.

If you are interested in joining the Trailblazers Isis team as a volunteer mentor, please complete the short form on our website (selecting ‘HMP/YOI Isis’ as the project) which you can find at ‘Become a Mentor’. You can also apply – as well as ask any questions you may have – by sending an email to: info@trailblazersmentoring.org.uk.