British social entrepreneur and life peer Lord Bird who co-founded The Big Issue, is passionate about improving the outcomes for young offenders who go through the British justice system. He has visited Fundación Diagrama in Spain, to see first hand the very different approach the charity has towards young offenders who are sent to their detention centres.
Travelling to Spain with David McGuire, the Chief Executive of Diagrama Foundation, Lord Bird visited four of the charity’s custodial centres and one home for asylum seeker children. The detention centres record a staggeringly impressive 80% non re-offending rate post release, compared with the UK’s 30%.
Lord Bird said, “Visiting the Diagrama detention centres in Spain was a real eye opener, what they are doing is very impressive. The only time the young people spend in their rooms is when they are asleep, the rest of their days are filled with lessons, sport and learning new skills which will be invaluable when they return to their communities. I had the opportunity to talk to young offenders and to those who are working with them and see the varied experiences that they are exposed to. We can learn so much from what is happening in Spain and I had no hesitation in becoming a Diagrama Patron and will continue to lobby the government to replace our own faulty youth detention framework and investigate this exemplary blueprint.”
Advocate for better custodial care for youth offenders, David McGuire has seen firsthand the success of the Spanish ‘re-education’ system that he implemented with the charity Fundacion Diagrama.
David McGuire, Chief Executive, Diagrama Foundation said, “It was a pleasure to spend time with Lord Bird in Spain explaining our ethos and showing him in practical terms what we are achieving in our juvenile detention centres which has flipped youth recidivism rates. Our centres are not like prisons with high security, they are run by a team of qualified educators, psychologists and social workers who combine their skills to offer an alternative. Our security teams don’t interact with the kids, they are just like an airbag in a car, you don’t need to see it every day, but you know if you are in an accident, it is there.
“We are always person-centred in our approach – our decision-making is focused on the needs of the individuals that we work with. We know that juveniles serving custodial sentences need role models and education on the difference between right and wrong, and hope for the future, not security guards and cells. We fill our centres with teachers and professionals to educate and teach trades. We do not need a team that thinks they are the good guys and the juveniles are the bad guys! It can’t be them and us – we need to change embedded culture. It is not an overnight process but the results speak for themselves.”
To view the video of Lord Birds trip to Spain visit – https://youtu.be/9g8F8ueBm9s
In the UK juvenile offenders had a proven reoffending rate of 32.5%.
Reoffending rates show that 84% of those in Diagrama’s youth re-educational custodial centres in Spain integrate back into the community without reoffending.
Diagrama Foundation is working closely with an Australian Government Agency to demonstrate how their unique juvenile programme is improving the outcome for young offenders in Spain.
‘A Chance for Change’ a book published by Diagrama Foundation, explores the important topic of what fair justice could mean for children and young people, through a collection of thought-provoking essays and creative reflections. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191702617X
About Lord Bird
John Anthony Bird, Baron Bird MBE is a British social entrepreneur and life peer. He became homeless aged five, resided in an orphanage from ages seven to ten, and was often excluded from school. During his teens and twenties, he spent several spells in prison, where he learnt to read and write and the basics of printing. He is co-founder of The Big Issue.
About Fundación Diagrama
Established in 1991, Fundación Diagrama works with people at social risk, especially children, families, young people, women and dependants by promoting and developing services aimed at socio-educational intervention and treatment, education, social and family care, healthcare (including elderly care, mental health and addiction treatment), training and occupational integration, as well as social and health prevention. It currently manages more than 210 centres and programmes across Spain. Through them, it attends the needs of over 20,000 people every year. www.fundaciondiagrama.es
About Diagrama Foundation
Diagrama Foundation is a Kent based charity that supports vulnerable children, young people, and adults to live their best life.
Diagrama has a Supported Living Service across Bromley and Mid Sussex, three homes for adults with learning disabilities in Orpington, an eight-bed care home for adults with learning disabilities in West Sussex with a Community Services Programme a fifty-bed care home for the elderly with nursing and dementia needs in Essex, and a fostering and adoption service in the southeast. Plus, a 100 acre property offering farm and craft day Services cross West Sussex.
- The Supported Living Service, cares for 33 adults with learning disabilities, in seven schemes across Bromley and one scheme in Mid Sussex, helping them to develop skills and confidence to live in their own house either on their own or with others.
- At Cabrini House in Orpington the charity promotes the development of core skills for 23 adults with learning disabilities so that they can lead independent lives integrated within their community.
- Duckyls Farm, a 100 acre residential care home in West Sussex for residents with learning disabilities, allows the charity to explore the physical, mental and social skills and benefits that working with animals and in nature can offer to people with a learning disability.
- Diagrama Community Services operates at Duckyls Farm and across Sussex. This is a day care provision Hub and Outreach Support for people with a learning disability, physical and sensory impairment, acquired brain injury and/or autism.
- The team at their nursing and dementia care home, Edensor Care Centre in Clacton on Sea, support vulnerable residents to live life to the full.
- Diagrama’s voluntary adoption agency and not-for-profit fostering service cares for children who wait the longest for homes in London, Kent, West and East Sussex and Surrey.
Many vulnerable children and adults don’t get the support they need to develop their true potential, but the Diagrama team know that when someone has time and belief invested in them, they come alive, because that investment has made them feel valued and worthy.
