Hmp Bristol

I've been working in Cardiff prison for 6weeks. Today I am going to Bristol to see how the prison advice and care trust work. Bristol has been up and running for a few years. The idea is to look at how its run and implement the ideas in Cardiff.
It will be an interesting day.

Mental health first aid

Wow what an amazing course to attend,
So packed with information on how to deal with depression,eating disorders, self harm and suicide. As a mentor this will be so useful however working in the prison with young children visiting their father's or male relatives it will be a massive help. Listening to what the children say I will be able to spot early signs of mental health and handle them correctly. Another thing we do in the prison is 'first night custody' this a crucial time for prisoners and suicide tendencies are high. That first night when the restriction of their liberty really kicks in. The prison advice and care trust offers support to families and prisoners.
The next course is assist which focuses on suicide and I would certainly like to go on this course ;)

Juggling

So much has changed this year!!!
I have my ideal placement and despite being told not to bother I am in Cardiff prison  :) so I'm juggling the prison, uni work being a mentor and working in a night club. Its a lot to take on but I love.

Struggling to work out how things have gone from being so shitty to being almost perfect :) (she says hoping it doesn't change now that I've said it)

I'm looking to write my dissertation on transgender inmates and how they are housed in prison, and to my surprise there's one in Cardiff :)

Training Day

Started my Mentoring training today 

At 8:30 this morning I had no idea what to expect I have been waiting to join the team since the early part of this year. I didn't know who I would meet, when I arrived I was welcomed massively by Liam and Annie who are in a few of my lectures. 

We all introduced ourselves and shared an interesting fact this changed the way you see the others as some other facts were really interesting. it was nice being able to move around and engage with the other mentors.

From me being a mentor means I will be using my counselling skills on a regular basis. I wanted to become a mentor to help other reach their full potential whilst experiencing student life. My counselling skills have really helped me this morning and I was able to apply my ethical skills effectively when discussing the should and shouldn'ts of being a student mentor.

Thank you to the others on the course for being friendly, approachable, slightly nutty and a source of knowledge too 

Cheers xx