On Saturday 12th October our ACE (Assisted Community Engagement) service held a Coffee Morning at St Andrew’s Church in Penrith to mark the start of Prisons Week 2019.
The ACE service is Lottery Funded and works with men and women leaving prison to support them to get their lives back on track. This could be help with accommodation, benefits and health & wellbeing activities through to attending appointments and re-establishing key relationships.
Organised by Stan Blacklock, one of our committed and dedicated ACE volunteers, the event raised an impressive £494.31 and rising!
Sharon Smith, ACE Service Manager said, “A huge thank you to Stan who has been a volunteer with ACE for a several years, the work he delivers work in the community, mentoring the vulnerable people we support is invaluable and we are incredibly proud and grateful for the time he gives us and the people we work with.”
The event was hosted by Reverend Canon David Sargent (Rector of St Andrews), who gave us a very warm welcome. The coffee and homemade cakes went down a treat – the room was full of people!
We were delighted to receive MP Rory Stewart at this event. He was very interested to learn about the work of ACE and our MAP Group (Members After Prison) and spoke admirably to the MAP ambassadors and ACE Project team in detail about the incredible work they do supporting ex-offenders in the community.
The event was an opportunity for members of the MAP Group to speak honestly about their experiences of prison, their struggles with substance misuse and mental health, and their work with the ACE Project and MAP Group. It was evident that people were touched by their stories and were keen to learn more about the groups life experiences and the positive way in which they have turned their lives around through engaging in this service.
Caritas Care would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Rev David Sargent and all that attended the event, it was a really enjoyable afternoon for all involved…and the cakes were delicious!
To find out more about ACE and the work they do, click here
