United Together: Active Lancashire

United Together takes a holistic approach to supporting prison leavers’ successful reintegration into society and overcoming of barriers (e.g. social isolation, difficulties securing accommodation
and employment).

The delivery model involved Active Lancashire, the Club Community Organisations (CCOs) of several local professional football clubs (Burnley, Accrington Stanley, Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, Blackpool, Fleetwood Town and Morecambe), plus Cumbria Lancashire Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) and local housing associations.

The project involves peer mentors, with lived experience of the criminal justice system, meeting prison leavers from day one of release and developing a personalised action plan with them to support their reintegration into the community.

Prison leavers are supported to access a range of sport and physical activity sessions run by the Community Football Trusts involved, and are signposted to other targeted support, including housing, substance addiction recovery, training and employment.

The project has been running since 2019. United Together has received positive feedback from
participants and has demonstrated success in improving wellbeing, increasing levels of physical
activity and reducing re-offending.

The resources below are a full explanation of the project and a full project evaluation.