Client Stories

Jez

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Jez was 17 and living with his mum and step dad. Relationships were strained and Jez was frequently missing overnight. Jez also had a drug problem and had developed something of a reputation in his local area. In 2005 he received a six month referral order for theft. He had been visiting an elderly relative of a friend and stole the man’s wallet containing £70.

The package put together for Jez’s order included reparation and
mediation to be delivered through the SOVA Wessex Restorative Justice
Project. Initially Jez was very difficult to engage with, turning up for
appointments very much ‘under the influence’, but a multi-agency
intervention approach, including the support of a drugs worker, enabled
Elaine, the SOVA worker, to begin victim awareness work fairly early on.
Elaine contacted the victim, who was pleased to be involved and in particular wanted to receive an apology from Jez. Elaine worked with Jez on a one-to-one basis and supported him in writing a letter apologising for the distress he had caused.

Over the course of the order Jez ceased using drugs and turned up for all of his appointments. Time with his YOT worker focused on what he might do with the rest of his life, and Jez expressed an interest in the building trade. With the support of the whole team, and of his parents, with whom he had worked to improve relationships, Jez applied for and secured a residential apprenticeship in the construction industry, where competition for places was considerable.

“Jez has expressed great remorse,” says Elaine. “In his last session with me, he told me that he is thankful for the whole referral order as it gave him the support to change his life, and the opportunity to make up a little for what he had done. His emotional and physical health has improved one hundred percent, as well as his confidence and his ability to manage himself and his life. He simply isn’t the same person that I met back at the beginning of his order”.

The final word goes to Jez’s victim, who was happy to receive his letter of apology and “would like to wish Jez every success for the future”.

Fifty percent of SOVA project participants across the UK are under 25, 23% are under 18. Many of these young people are offenders referred to SOVA projects by local Youth Offending Teams. SOVA projects offer a variety of interventions, in particular in the area of restorative justice and mentoring.

The SOVA Wessex project alone received 1,600 referrals during the year under review and successfully concluded 1,200 of these. Almost 100% of identifiable victims were contacted by the project, and full mediation took place in just over 19% of these cases. The project arranges a broad range of reparation activities, including the refurbishment of a local charity shop and numerous environmental and fundraising/sponsored projects.

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