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News from Shine National Women's Mentoring Service
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Welcome to the latest Shine newsletter and update on news and events surrounding the implementation and delivery of the Shine Women’s Mentoring Service.

It is intended not only for the information of immediate delivery and support partners, but for the wider stakeholder community, in local authorities, other third sector organisations and observers of the criminal justice world. Please feel free to circulate to colleagues.

Blog: Sharron Stirrat
Shine Operational Lead


It has been another very busy period in Shine, providing training for managers and mentors, establishing the revised operational standards and the use of the case management system. I thank all partners for their co-operation with these activities. Our appreciation goes also to Colleen Souness who continues to support Shine with our self-evaluation and data analysis.

Over the coming months Shine will be concentrating on further integrating the mentoring service with existing and developing women’s services across the country. Discussions have taken place with Social Work Scotland with regard to increasing the numbers of community referrals to Shine and assisting CJSW work with women on community pay-back orders (unpaid work level 1). In addition, Shine is giving priority to women who are remanded in custody, whereby, we are working with partners in certain areas in order to try and increase the engagement by women in Shine and assist them reach positive destinations in their lives. In order to build resilience into the service, Shine is also focusing on the recruitment of volunteers who play a key role in assisting women.

Active discussions are also taking place in relation to the sustainability of the PSPs. Meanwhile there is still much to do, so please keep up the excellent work.

'You Can Cook'


Shine recently worked with the Social Enterprise ‘You Can Cook’ to deliver cookery sessions to “Shine” women in Ayrshire. These sessions used cooking to inspire, motivate and build confidence and help participants recognise their abilities.  This was run as a pilot jointly delivered by Barnardo’s and Ayrshire Criminal Justice Partnership.

 “I feel I have learned so much coming to the cookery classes. I have young kids and never really knew what kind of things I could cook whilst saving money. I now have the confidence to cook more often and it doesn’t need to cost so much as it used to.”  [participant]

‘You Can Cook’ noted in their Final Report in December that “Participants said that they really valued coming to these training sessions”.

 “I felt that the women who did have some cooking skills were boosted by being able to display their skills to others. All responded very well to praise and positive comments. Everyone was very interested in learning new recipes and some commented to trying them out at home.”  [staff]

Thanks and congratulations to all Shine mentees and mentors that worked with this pilot, and to Barnardo’s Scotland, Ayrshire Criminal Justice Social Work staff and ‘You Can Cook’.

Shine Mentees Awarded


On 17 December 2015 the work of Shine mentees and services users of Reconnect Women was celebrated at an awards ceremony in the Scottish Borders.

The ceremony was held to recognise the women achieving qualifications in REHIS elementary food preparation and Community Learning and Development Awards for personal development and computer skills. These courses were all provided free of charge by CLD, Healthy Living Network and Hawick Library staff.

The event was attended by representatives from Community Learning and Development (CLD) and the Healthy Living Network and was supported by the Women’s Reconnect Service who sent their best wishes and some goody bags.

Christmas Afternoon in Edinburgh

Sacro's Dalmeny Street office held their annual Christmas Hamper Afternoon in December which provided food parcels, Christmas music, mince pies and Christmas cheer to service users including several Shine mentees. The hampers were kindly donated by Destiny Angel’s and we are very grateful to them for this. The afternoon was a great success!

Lisa, a Shine mentor, said afterwards “The afternoon went really well. There were two Shine service users and one of our volunteers, Britney was there. The mentees really appreciated it. One contacted me later to say that it was really lovely and so rewarding to socialise and do something nice at Christmas".

Across Scotland, Across our Partners


As Scotland’s largest Public Sector Partnership (PSP) we are pleased to share some of the stories that have appeared at our partner organisations recently.

In November Apex Scotland was named a ‘Centre of Excellence’ by ASDAN in recognition of their outstanding practice in running ASDAN courses. Apex’s nomination was made in relation to their creative teaching and learning. ASDAN is an educational charity that develops curriculum and is an awarding body.

In January Barnardo’s Scotland announced that over £18,000 has been raised at the December shows at Usher Hall in the past four years. The concert hall has supported Barnardo’s Scotland with bucket donations since 2012.

Circle Scotland’s FABI team – which includes some of our own Shine mentors – was delighted and honoured to be one of their charities chosen by the Tartan Army Children’s Charity (TACC) to be awarded £5,000. TACC promotes supporting disadvantaged children in Scotland and abroad.

Here at Sacro we have published our Volunteer Strategy for the next five years, both recognising the immense contribution our volunteers make within our services and formally establishing the organisation’s ongoing commitment to volunteering.

At Turning Point Scotland the recent launch of a book of Glasgow homelessness service stories was celebrated. In the book lie the stories of nine people the organisation support sharing their life experiences and offering insights in life on the streets and living with addiction.

In January Venture Trust saw their first participants on the Venture Trust’s Reaching Higher Programme. This programme is designed to help care experienced, unemployed young people between 16 and 29 to gain skills and work experience and with support to enter sustained employment.

Also in January, The Robertson Trust produced a briefing paper on Criminal Justice, highlighting the need to focus on preventative approaches which support people before they have entered the criminal justice system.

Women’s Justice Forum
Sacro hosted this Forum in early December. This is a group mainly made up from the 16 projects funded by the Scottish Government and delivering services to women in the justice sector across Scotland. Shine had a stand at the Forum with an opportunity to showcase our service.

Case Study - Helen


When Helen first came to Shine she was pregnant, living with an abusive partner and due to unrelated health issues was unable to complete her unpaid hours of Community Service. It was felt by the court that she would benefit from support and supervision during this time and her Social worker referred Helen to Shine.
During the period of engagement, Shine worked with Helen to engage with the following Services:
  • Early Years Team
  • Health Visitors
  • Child Protection Meetings/Children’s Panel/Core Group Meetings
  • Housing/Homelessness Situation
  • Mental Health Services and Mindfulness Options
  • Welfare Benefits
  • Domestic Abuse Advocacy Support Service
  • DNA testing and resulting implications with GP
  • Criminal Justice Social Worker
Due to Helen’s past criminality, drug and alcohol issues and self-harming behaviour, the unborn baby had been placed on the Child Protection Register and was at risk of being removed from her mother’s care. Initially, the baby was placed with Gran with open access for Mum, whilst Social Workers completed their assessment of mum’s ability to parent. Helen’s engagement with Shine meant that she was confident enough to attend and fully engage with all of the supports put in place as she often felt overwhelmed during formal proceedings/appointments.

At exit, Helen had:
  • successfully completed her CPO and was discharged from their caseload
  • was no longer living in a domestic violent situation
  • was receiving Mental Health support
  • had full custody of her child with support in place locally should she need it in the future.
  • was living in her own tenancy
  • had welfare benefits support
  • was aware of training and on-line courses available to her for the future.

Website: www.shinementoring.org   Email: infoshine@sacro.org.uk
Copyright © 2016 Shine, All rights reserved.


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