We are happy to welcome Fay Dellimore to the 3Pillars team as our Post Custody Lead. Our Social Media Lead, Ellie, sat down with Fay to find out a bit about her.
You have been with 3Pillars for 3 months, how are you settling in?
Well apart from losing my voice in the first week it has been great to be able to get stuck in and be involved with so many different aspects of the charity. One of the reasons I felt attracted to working for 3Pillars was that as a smaller charity I would be able to use my wealth of experience in not just the criminal justice sector, but also in professional fundraising, event organisation, as a qualified Personal Trainer, and as an athlete. I was fortunate to have been invited to join the team for a number of training days in the summer before I had officially started with 3Pillars and so I already felt welcomed as part of the team which has made it easy to settle in.
Your job title is Post Custody Lead; what does that mean that you will be doing within 3Pillars?
It would almost be better to describe my role as Pre-release/Post Custody Lead. My job is to support guys who have taken part in our Rugby Academy in prison when they are nearing their release, and then once they are back in the community. This will include working with them pre-release to explore every aspect of living in the community; where they will be living, or indeed if they have anywhere to live when released; and if not I will support them to ensure they do have accommodation. I will be exploring with them what their aspirations may be for the future, whether they are employment, training or further education. I am supporting a guy at the moment to start employment in the construction industry, and also we are looking at his longer term goal of setting up his own dog training business. I will be finding out what their family and friends network looks like. Sometimes that can be nobody! I am working with an 18 year old at the moment who has recently been released; who has been in care since he was 10. When I asked him 'who would you turn to if you were having a bad day, or needed any kind of support'; he said 'himself!'. After a pause I told him, 'well now you can always call me!'. So, I am there for the guys with both practical and emotional support.
What led you to working in the justice sector?
It was certainly not planned! I left school and home at the age of 15 having had a pretty dysfunctional childhood, and for a while lived alone in a caravan in a field next to Gatwick airport runway. I spent the next 35 years drifting from one profession to the next, and actually achieving some amazing things in spite of, or maybe because of, a difficult start in life. At the age of 50 I saw an advert for a job in a prison as a Resettlement Officer and my neighbour persuaded me to 'go for it!'. I really didn't think I would even get an interview as I didn't think my experience would be deemed relevant. But I did get an interview and I bounced in like Tigger, so excited just knowing I could persuade them I was absolutely the right person for the job. I got the job and loved working in the prison environment. It is a place where you can make such a difference to a person's world by doing the smallest act of kindness, or just just by showing pure human respect. 10 years later I feel the same passion for helping to support guys to be their most amazing selves!
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of work?
I have been an extreme/endurance athlete for years. I have completed many Ironman races, swam the English Channel solo, and taken part in extreme cold water challenges. I am currently training for an Ice Mile, which is a challenge of swimming 1 mile in just a normal swimsuit and swim cap in water that has to be a temperature of 5 degrees or below. It is one of the toughest sporting challenges that exists and has to be done under very strict regulations!
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