RESTORATIVE PRACTICES: Prison Fellowship Scotland and Sycamore Tree
Here John Nonhebel, Director of Prison Fellowship Scotland, shares how the theme of restoration is at the heart of who they are.
In our vision statement, we talk about lives being positively transformed in response to the gospel. We recognise that for lives to be transformed and to be restored then helping men and women come to terms with the impact of the crimes they have committed is a vital part of this process.
For more than ten years we have been running a programme called the Sycamore Tree Course where we teach principles of restorative justice and victim awareness. The course is based around the story of Zacchaeus in the bible and about how, when he decided to live his life differently, part of what he did was to think about the needs of his victims, of those he had stolen from.
This course is a six-week programme and through it, we help the men and women who attend think through the impact of their crimes and especially those who have been the victims of these crimes. It has been a real privilege for our volunteers to engage in many conversations where people talked about how this was the first time they were really thinking through what they had done. We know that this is a crucial step to helping lives be restored and plays a significant part in helping reduce reoffending. We have growing opportunities to run this course in prisons around Scotland and if this is something you would like to be involved in please get in touch by emailing us at office@pfscotland.org.