Resident Testimonials

Below are some comments and feedback from past residents about their time at
​St John's Approved Premises.

A brief account of my time at St John's Hostel...

After serving a life sentence with several years in various jails, I had heard all the negative things about life in a hostel, of course this was from the losers who had been recalled ‘for missing 1 appointment with their offender manager’ and the ‘1 point over the alcohol limit’ always someone else’s fault!
 
I was lucky in that I enjoyed a good working relationship with my offender manager and we had discussed these things on several occasions.
 
I arrived at St John’s Hostel in Leeds, as a new area, a new start in my life, not knowing anybody in the area, and after so long inside, expecting a negative attitude and more restrictions, I try to remain positive but prison doesn’t encourage that in a person. I entered St Johns hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
 
My first impressions were very good, induction staff were very helpful and explained the hostel regime and how it worked, over the first few days I met most of the staff including my case worker, who proved to be most pro-active and positive in his attitude and professionalism just the opposite to most prison staff, I have met over the years.

It soon became apparent that St John’s had a very pro-active regime in place with the staff having a ‘can do’ attitude, and wanting to work with me rather than putting restrictions on me.
 
St John’s staff gave me enough room, and the occasional push when needed, for me to find my feet back in the real world, while at the same time providing advice and support when needed.
 
Some time ago staff at St John’s noticed that several people who did well during their stay at the hostel, often fall at the accommodation hurdle, ending up feeling that they were better off back in jail, rather than being on their own in poor housing stock, on every tap to fall into as many have.
 
This is why St John’s runs a support group called ‘Compass’ where they help ex-prisoners to find slightly better accommodation whilst residing at the support network helping people re-integrate back into society, an extremely good idea that should be taken nationwide to help those of us who want to rebuild our lives and never set foot in the prison system again. My thanks to all the staff for their help, support and encouragement.
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My Time at St John's Hostel...

I was in prison for quite a long time. I got told I was going to St. Johns, I had heard very bad things about hostels such as you get recalled for any little thing. This made me weary as it was going to be my first time in a hostel.
 
Once in the hostel I became associated with friendly and approachable staff, they help or advise you on anything you and will help you as best they can. St Johns have helped me with my CSCS card booking and payment which was a load off of my mind.
 
They have many groups available to use such as:

Cooking Group - Can put suggestions forward to cook whatever meals you would at home following your move on (and I don’t mean out of a kettle!).

Thursday Trips - These go to different places every week, a member of staff takes a few out to do certain activities, travel and food is paid for.

Job Club - Helped me to write a CV which after only 2 weeks I gained full time employment!

Bike Project – This is an excellent project that the hostel have running at moment, you not only build your own bike but you keep it at the end which is great for getting to appointments.
 
I would advise anyone reading this to ignore any stories you have heard in prison because you wont have heard the full story! 

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