Most conversations about women in prison start with what went wrong. I'm more interested in what happens next.

The numbers are unambiguous.

 

Most women in prison are serving short sentences for non-violent offences and 55% are mothers. A significant proportion have experienced abuse before they ever saw a courtroom. Almost all of them will be released and what determines whether they return is not the sentence, it's what's waiting on the other side.

 

A home. An income. Someone who thinks they're worth the effort.

That last part is not sentiment, it's infrastructure. It is built by organisations running employment programmes, food and health work, housing support and advocacy and it is funded, precariously, by grants, trusts and contracts that must be won every single year.

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I work on the funding side of that infrastructure. I spend my time helping bridge the gap in the funding landscape and support charities to diversify revenue, build credible cases for support, and find routes to money they haven't yet tapped.