‘Amazing’ Hampshire Juno project that helps women rebuild their lives after offending is given funding boost and backed by Police and Crime Commissioner

Women who have worked with the Hampton Trust’s new Juno project have praised the ‘genuine and compassionate support’ given by the providers.

Female offenders who receive a conditional caution are referred to Hampton Trust to receive support via the Juno project, which aims to ensure women with complex trauma histories feel safe and supported while they address the causes of their offending.

Specialists work with the women to build their skills in emotional management.

One 42-year-old woman, a single mum to a young son, said that before she went to her first Juno workshop, she ‘didn’t believe anybody cared and that there was no help out there’, but now she says ‘I know people do care’.

The woman received a conditional caution in January following a neighbour dispute.

Struggling to cope with her mental health after experiencing a house invasion where she was held at gunpoint, the woman felt that she ‘hadn’t dealt with’ her trauma and said: ‘I was very stressed having historic PTSD and a son with developmental delays and now what we know to be potential autism.’

However, Juno offered her an ‘amazing’ lifeline as she learns to cope with her PTSD.

She said: ‘This was the opportunity for me to acknowledge things I hadn’t before.

‘I say to myself, “I’m not the old me, it’s the new me”, and Juno was the start of that.’

The woman was required to attend two six-hour sessions with Juno.

She said: ‘It’s time well invested. Even after the first few hours, it makes you face facts and you’re talking to other women in similar situations.

‘As a single parent I’ve felt alone, especially through the pandemic, and this helped me feel like I’m not alone.’

Now, the woman feels able to open up more to her friends and is taking courses which help her learn about her PTSD and her son’s condition.

She is keen to encourage other women in similar circumstances to take steps towards their own healing with a project which ‘helps them understand how to break the cycle’.

She added: ‘I can’t recommend it highly enough - don’t be afraid of making those first moves, as I was. I was terrified of getting help, or speaking, but inside, I knew the healing that I needed to do.

‘I was very upset with myself for ending up in the situation I was in, but now I’m getting the help my son and I need.

‘Once you get those first few conversations out the way, that’s when the healing begins.

‘It’s a step away from feeling alone to realise there’s a whole big world out there.

‘It’s making that first tiny baby step to making a better life for yourself, because we all deserve it.’

The woman praised the Juno team’s ‘genuine and compassionate support’, and says she is still in touch with project leaders.

She said: ‘The leaders are highly experienced - anybody that walks through those doors, they’re in really good hands.’

Debbie Willis is children and young people’s domestic abuse services manager at Hampton Trust, and leads the Juno project.

She said: ‘I’ve always worked with women, and as soon as this project came up I said I wanted to do it.

‘I love it. When it was a pilot the project was originally called WADE, and we recently changed the name to Juno when we were able to secure the three-year funding.

‘We all agreed on it as she was the Greek goddess that looked after women.’

Debbie said that the new funding is ‘fantastic’ as it secures the project.

She said: ‘As we’ve got the OPCC funding from the Crime Commissioners Office, we can plan, and we’ve been able to employ staff as well.

‘It makes it more stable, and it means we can test things to develop it.

‘We need to make sure it fits with the women and work around the clients - it’s about making it work for them.’

Juno supports women of all ages from across Portsmouth, Hampshire and Southampton, working with varying numbers.

Debbie added: ‘I love working with women - they are just amazing people. They’re funny, some of them are hurt.

‘There’s a lot of pain and upset, mental health issues, addiction.

‘These people are true survivors but everyone can learn from them. They just need support and guidance.

‘That’s not to condone what they’ve done wrong, but it shouldn’t define them.

‘If people realised how much they’d been through, they wouldn’t be so judgemental.’

Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones is investing in the Juno programme.

Debbie added that Donna is ‘a real advocate for working with women and seems to understand the issues facing women in the criminal justice system’.

Donna said: ‘Poor responses to multiple and complex needs of female offenders has for too long kept women in a cycle of offending.

‘We need to identify and work through what is causing them to offend and address each of these issues.

‘For many women this could be related to experience of exploitation or an abusive relationship, which is why it is important that we take a trauma-informed approach.’

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Chantal Hughes, Hampton Trust chief executive, said: ‘We have 25 years’ experience in supporting women with complex trauma histories and we are delighted to have the opportunity to expand Juno across Hampshire.

‘For too long the criminal justice system has failed women and by offering a trauma-informed approach to address complex trauma histories we are providing opportunities for women to feel safe and supported to access the right services they need.’

Another woman said the course was ‘amazing’ with a ‘non-judgmental atmosphere’, and added: ‘The lady who runs it is absolutely brilliant, such a lovely person.’

The 33-year-old from Alton, who suffered a domestically abusive relationship, said that her favourite thing was ‘talking about things and being with a group of women, hearing their stories and being able to share mine.’

She added: ‘It was really informative and it makes you stop and think about things that have happened.

‘I was really nervous, but when you hear people’s stories and what they’ve been through - we all had a good cry and it was really nice.

‘There needs to be more support out there for children who suffer with domestic abuse, and help for women that go through things like that.’

Inspector Andy Noble of Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘I am delighted that Juno is part of our portfolio of options for out-of-court disposals and provides a meaningful opportunity to work with women with a positive and supportive approach, ensuring that long term benefits are sought for victims, offenders and the wider community.

‘Evidence supports that this is a really effective approach and is key to making a real difference, including the reduction in reoffending.’