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Sycamore Tree Project®

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• England and Wales |
• Netherlands |
• Northern Ireland

Discovering Forgiveness

Helping prisoners to see the consequences of their crimes and feel remorse for their actions is what Prison Fellowship’s Sycamore Tree Project® is all about. One of the ways the programme accomplishes this is by showing offenders the impact that crime has on victims. Such was the case for juvenile prisoners (ages 16 and 17) taking part in PF Netherlands’ Sycamore Tree Project® known there as “Spreken over Schuld (SOS),” which means, “Speaking about Guilt.”

Helping Youth

A group of young men between the ages of 16 and 18 were the first to participate in PF Netherlands’ new Sycamore Tree Project®, held recently at the Youth Prison Teylingereind in Sassenheim.

A Simple Burglary

It looked like a tornado had hit, but what really happened felt much worse. Greet didn’t recognize her own home. Drawers were turned upside down, papers lay all over the floor and the shelves and tables that once held her most prized possessions were now bare. Her favourite jewellery, which held deep sentimental value and had been passed down from generations, were gone.

Sycamore Tree Project® Celebration

Hundreds of PF England/Wales staff, volunteers and supporters joined several Sycamore Tree Project® victim participants for a joyous celebration at Holy Trinity Church in Coventry, England. Victims and other STP participants told moving stories of how they have been impacted by the project.

Evaluation of the Sycamore Tree Project®

The Sycamore Tree Project® is an in-prison restorative justice programme designed to help offenders understand the impact of crime on victims and the community. PF England and Wales, having implemented this programme in several prisons, recently released results of a programme evaluation.

Sycamore Tree: A Model of Restorative Justice

Prison Fellowship Northern Ireland held their first Sycamore Tree Programme with the young offenders at Hydebank Wood. The group of six young men, all under 20, who attended were clearly affected by the six week course as they were made aware of their own individual and corporate responsibility. Music,graphics, cartoons, videos and interactive work all combined to provide stimulating and thought provoking sessions.

Transforming Offenders in England and Wales

In a courtroom in London (UK) a young man accused of robbery changes his plea to guilty. Another young man asks for undisclosed offences to be taken into account and as a result gets a stiffer sentence. A drug-trafficker doing time in prison repents and seeks to rebuild his life. A murderer serving a life-sentence writes a declaration promising ‘to never again create victims by my irresponsible and violent actions’.

Fear Gives Way to Hope

Last year was particularly difficult for Eleanor Smith. First she was injured in a brutal assault that knocked her teeth out and left her temporarily deaf. Later her checkbook was stolen and her car was vandalised. Hoping to put the painful past behind her, she left her job as the owner of a bar and moved to a safer neighbourhood in England.