'It's a privilege to be doing something so valuable' (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

'It's a privilege to be doing something so valuable'

10:34am Friday 3rd March 2006 in

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A LIFE behind bars was not the path Lucia do Rosario originally chose for herself.

But for the last year that's exactly where she's been and surprisingly she has no great urge to break out any time soon.

The 38-year-old works as a community chaplain at Feltham Young Offenders Institution (FYOI), where she has been pioneering a project to enlist volunteers from faith communities across London to help rehabilitate the prison's inmates.

She says: "It's true, I didn't have any desire to be working behind bars, but at some point I learnt that life doesn't go according to plan, and that opportunities tend to pop up out of the woodwork.

"The work we do at Feltham is not about judging people, it's about the unconditional positive regard that you have for somebody something that some of the boys have never experienced."

The project already has more than 10 faith groups represented for the boys, some of whom enter the notorious institution as young as 15 years old.

Lucia says: "It's frustrating to see the bad press we get because there are so many good and positive things here for the boys.

"We are a penal institution so we're not into the marketing hype, but there are some lovely people here doing good work."

Launched on December 1 at City Hall in London, the cutting-edge multi-faith initiative is committed to supporting young people being released from FYOI to enable them to resettle positively into their communities.

As an independent project funded by the Feltham Community Chaplaincy Trust, rather than by the prison, the programme is the brainchild of the institution's chaplains, which includes Lucia.

She says: "I've spent most of last year running around like a headless chicken, because this is the first of its kind in the UK that's focused on a young offenders institution.

"Since the launch I have trained 11 volunteers in faith mentoring, and I am about to train another 20."

Although a very devoted member of the chaplaincy team at FYOI, Lucia admits she never envisioned her career ending up at the institution.

Raised in Singapore, her family moved to London when she was 15 years old, and since then she has spent time living in Switzerland and Holland in between various jobs, including a stint with charity, Business in the Community.

It was only a few years ago that Lucia settled on studying an MA in pastoral theology which she hopes to complete this year. She says: "It's all been an experience in terms of my learning.

"When I worked for Business in the Community some of the homeless people I was working with were ex-offenders. But I still wasn't sure about taking a job in a prison because it's not easy, and it comes with a lot of mixed emotions."

"You are seeing people when they are very vulnerable and that's a privilege, but it can also be quite painful.

You're constantly wondering how you can help them, and worrying that they might not make it on the outside.

"When dealing with adults they have had time to come to terms with many things in their lives, but these boys are very young men and as a result they want to make changes which they hadn't thought of previously.

"It's a privilege to be doing something so valuable."

For Lucia, the most joy in her job comes from seeing ex-offenders successfully leave the prison walls behind and rehabilitate themselves in the community.

She says: "It just brings joy to me because knowing that we've been a part of that even in a small way is heart-warming. For the young ex-offender who's been through a lot in his life and is still struggling to come to terms with who he is, it's scary to walk into a new community like that and overcome the barriers."

"It's really difficult when a boy goes back to prison. It's painful because you feel their disappointment with them. A lot of the men here are still very young and they want support and help. You give it to them but they are sometimes not always ready to face the change that they have asked for."

From the 10 boys Lucia has been mentoring, however, only two have gone back and been re-sentenced.

She says: "The first thing one of the boys asked for was his faith mentor. That shows that it's working."

Lucia is hoping to expand the community chaplaincy programme into other prisons over the next few years, insisting: "It's not only about educating the boys in the institution, its about educating and rehabilitating the community as well.

"These are our children sitting on the margins of the community, and we have to help find a way to bring them back in a positive way."

Anyone interested in taking part in the next volunteer programme in March should email lucia.dorosario@hmps.gis.gov.uk or call 020 8844 5585.