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Stories From the Sycamore Tree Project®

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Sycamore Tree: A Chaplain’s View

In June this year, PF Scotland completed the fifth Sycamore Tree Project® in Shotts Prison. The seven prisoner participants in the programme were recruited by the Prisons Chaplaincy Unit. After the course, the Senior Chaplain, the Rev. Allan Brown, provided this report.

Sycamore Tree Project ® in the Solomon Islands

A recent newspaper headline from the Solomon Islands reads, “Prisoners find way to reconcile with victims.’ The article refers to the recent celebration ceremony of Sycamore Tree Project® run by Prison Fellowship Solomon Islands in Rove Central Prison in Honiara.

Sycamore Tree Project® in the Community

Recently, the PF Australia chapter in New South Wales completed its first Sycamore Tree Project® pilot project in the community. This pilot worked with both ex-prisoners and offenders on community sentences. The offender participants volunteer for the programme because they are required to complete a certain number of prescribed courses as a term of their sentences. Sycamore Tree is only one in a range of courses.

Sycamore Tree Project® and PF South Africa

Recently, Douw Grobler, executive director of PF South Africa, reported on the “high level of partnership between PFSA and the Department of Correctional services (DCS)” as seen in the Sycamore Tree Project® (STP). In 2007, PF South Africa signed a service agreement with the DCS to provide STP to 80% of South African prisons within four years. They then provided workshops that trained 136 individuals to facilitate the programme in four different DCS management areas.

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.

Facilitating Reconciliation

Usually the Sycamore Tree Project® brings together victims with “unrelated” offenders, but PF Colombia recently held an STP programme in Bellavista Prison where victims met with the offenders who actually victimized them.

“Today I got to Speak”

Trembling from fear as they neared the massive prison, Fiona and Helen both felt the urge to just keep driving and avoid meeting the offenders who waited for them behind the gates. They were on their way to take part in PF Australia’s Sycamore Tree Project® (STP) at Acacia Prison near Perth in Western Australia.

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.

Celebration of Healing: Report from the Sycamore Tree Project® – Pilot at Acacia Prison

28 people, both men and women, sit in a circle facing inwards. It is morning. Among them, dotted about in random fashion, are 9 men in green, the clothes marking them out as prisoners. We are in a large classroom, a cross and some stained glass windows identifying this as a chapel. The location - Acacia private prison - a loose block of buildings, 50 kilometres East of Perth, heavily fortified by razor wire indicating its maximum security classification. Around us are the living and working quarters of about 750 inmates (this is the largest of WA’s prisons) and a large number of security personnel. It is Friday 11th November 2005. There are smiles and an atmosphere of peace, confidence - even of joy - among those present.

Evaluating the Sycamore Tree Project®

In November 2005, Prison Fellowship New Zealand released a new evaluation of the effectiveness of the Sycamore Tree Project® (STP).

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.

A Sycamore Tree Project® Story From Costa Rica

The Sycamore Tree Project® is an in prison restorative justice programme bringing together groups of unrelated victims and offenders to explore issues related to crime. Over a course of 5-8 meetings, the groups discuss crime, its impact, and ways to make things right. Miguel Tello, restorative justice programme manager for the Centre, facilitated the first Sycamore Tree Project® in Costa Rica. In this article, he shares his reflections on the experience.

Sycamore Tree Project® in Colombia

PF Colombia has recently completed its first two Sycamore Tree Projects®. One took place in Bellavista prison, involving prisoners convicted of murder and victims who had lost loved ones to murder. The second was in a Medellín neighbourhood that has been racked by violence. Following is one of several stories related by Lácides Hernandez, Board Chairperson of PF Colombia:

Sycamore Tree Success

A restorative justice programme involving face-to-face meetings between prison inmates and victims of crime is proving so successful it is to be expanded into eight prisons around the country this year.

Sycamore Tree Programme: A Journey For Them All

PRison Fellowship New Zealand is actively workign with the Department of Corrections to expand the Sycamore Tree Project. This article originally appeared in Te Ara Whakatika: newsletter of the court-referred restorative justice project, Winter 2004, number 22.

PF New Zealand – The first Sycamore Tree Project® in the Faith Based Unit

Five victims of crime and five offenders took part in this inaugural STP in the Faith Based Unit. PFNZ staff member Jackie Katounas ran the programme along with David and Karina TeHira who will run subsequent STP at Rimutaka Prison. I have attended quite a number of STP Celebration events and I hear similar things comings from both offenders and victims. Let me share with you some of the comments that were shared with the assembled guests at the FBU this morning.

Sycamore Tree Project Expanding in New Zealand

This article from the New Zealand Corrections News originally titled "Sycamore Tree Programme Plans to Expand Across Region," describes the programme and expansion plans.

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’.