Drink and Drugs News DDN Feb2018 | Page 16

Profile

Partner uP

Co-production and partnership working can help organisations thrive in troubled times . DDN hears from the MD of Equinox Care and Penrose Criminal Justice Services , Kelly Hallett

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As a sector we can still do more to work together to find better or more innovative ways of pooling resources and supporting people ,’ says Kelly Hallett . ‘ Certainly one of my priorities is to identify more opportunities for us to be building these relationships and combining expertise .’

Joined-up working is a subject she knows quite a bit about – late last year she was appointed MD of Equinox Care and Penrose Criminal Justice Services , both of which are part of the Social Interest Group ( SIG ), which was established as a charity in 2014 . ‘ At the time Equinox was looking for a merger partner and Penrose wanted to build a much stronger infrastructure , which it couldn ’ t afford on its own ,’ says Hallett . ‘ SIG was the answer .’

The group now includes five charities , and provides the framework to support them and help develop their strategies . This means organisations can remain true to their charitable aims and retain their own boards while benefitting from being part of a ‘ much bigger picture ’, she explains . ‘ It ’ s about strengthening our charities by opening up opportunities to freely learn from each other and innovate , working closely together and remaining financially robust enough to enjoy the back-office services that they could not have achieved on their own .’

The new MD role offers the opportunity to ‘ lead two charities as businesses that truly care about individuals ’ recovery and rehabilitation ’, she says . ‘ I have great ambitions for Equinox , Penrose and our service users .’ She ’ d worked at Penrose for more than six years , rising to director of operations and director of criminal justice services , before taking on the current role . Before was Turning Point – first as regional manager for Kent and then assistant director for substance misuse – and before that a period in prison drug treatment . ‘ I started as a

‘ It ’ s about strengthening our charities by opening up opportunities to freely learn from each other and innovate .’

volunteer , progressing to CARAT worker , CARAT manager and then eastern area manager , overseeing 11 drug treatment services in prisons across the East of England ,’ she says .

So was the drugs sector something she ’ d always been interested in ? ‘ Not specifically . I always knew I ’ d work with vulnerable people and I always had an interest in prisons . Many years ago I worked with the elderly , then I had a temp job in a prison doing admin which gave me the opportunity to be introduced to the prison substance misuse team . I started volunteering with them in 2003 , which led to a job within the team – this field has captivated me from day one , and I ’ m still very grateful to have been given that volunteer position .’

Drug treatment in prisons is obviously facing hugely challenging times , with the consequences of the dramatic increase in NPS use making regular headlines . What could be done to improve treatment provision in the current climate ? ‘ I think that whilst there are some excellent examples and outcomes out there , there are still many challenges to providing effective , choice-based treatment ,’ she says . ‘ The cuts to funding and staffing are well known , and the environment itself is restrictive – prisons are facing their own challenging times . Access to , and movement of , prisoners is not always easy , and prison regimes often mean that it ’ s hard for meaningful activity to take place – boredom and lack of daily structure can be very demotivating .’

Despite all the evidence showing that ‘ safe environments improve outcomes ’, access to specific resettlement , wellbeing or drug-free wings isn ’ t always an option ,

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