Ben and I have decided to run the the Royal Parks Half on 13 October for StandOut.

StandOut is an award-winning charity that empowers people to make positive change, realise their potential, and rebuild their lives after prison. Their unique programme begins in prison with coaching and practical support and continues after release, for as long as someone needs.

I visited StandOut through my work for the Centre for Social Justice and witnessed their work first hand. I saw how people can discover their potential and what they want to achieve.

As a former police officer, I know that repeat offending is all too common. Prevention is the obvious solution, but police officers find little time to contribute to this, and they’re sometimes not best placed to do so. It is disheartening to know your work isn’t making a difference but where services and the third sector come together, prevention is possible.

When I spoke to people receiving StandOut coaching, they had hope about leaving prison. Leaving prison isn’t easy and StandOut works with people with past convictions to ensure they’re supported both in prison, during the transition to the community and within the community while required.

With your support we can ensure that more people leaving prison are empowered to make positive change that has an impact on them, their families, and society.

(For those of you supporting Ben and know that this isn’t a particularly challenging challenge for him, his challenge is training me, and that‘s not for the faint hearted!)

Thank you!