Gemma's success story

Gemma Leatham who has just completed her community service order has spoken about how her experience helped her change her life at the Women in the Justice System conference in London.

The conference was attended by members of the Women's National Commission and members of the All Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group. They heard Gemma talk about the fact that: ”if it wasn’t for Probation and the Together Women Project (TWP) I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Gemma is a single parent who faces family issues and has struggled to find someone she can trust to look after her son. She was sentenced to 100 hours Community Payback (unpaid work) and a supervision order for 24 months.

The crčche facilities at TWP, regulated by OFSTED and staffed by trained workers, were invaluable and meant that Gemma didn’t have to rely on baby sitters and could complete her community service hours in one place without having to travel around with young children.

Gemma said: “It wasn’t until I attended TWP that I realised how much it could change me for the better. ... I felt all staff would listen to any problems and ... I had the right to express my own feelings and opinions without being judged. ... And here I learnt to forgive myself for all my mistakes.”

Gemma was given cleaning duties and was able to learn new skills through courses including Parenting Skills, Basic Computer Skills and Healthy Lifestyles. Gemma added: “Being able to take part in the services through my community order, probation has given me the motivation to better myself and I want to continue doing positive things for myself, throughout life. Every time I left the project I felt reassured and stronger to live a positive life. This gave me confidence to want to go back as much as possible to enjoy my courses and meet new people.”

The Together Women Project aims to make a difference to the lives of women offenders and women at risk of offending. It aims to help women tackle the reasons they commit crimes by working with key workers and community based women's centres. At the TWP centres in Leeds, Bradford and Doncaster, women can access advice on health, education and training, housing, substance misuse, finance and family issues.

Find out more about TWP