The National Probation Service for England and Wales is one of the least known and understood wheels of the criminal justice system, sadly only making it into the news when mistakes are made.
Even less is known of the wonderful origins of this core organisation. In order to learn more about the history, we have to travel back in time to 1878 and Victorian England. This was a time of great poverty, especially for those in some of the most deprived London districts.
Frederic Rainer was a Christian living in Holborn and a member of the Church of England Temperance Society (CETS). He wrote to the Society stressing he was concerned for the lack of help for those who came before the courts; he also enclosed five shillings for the Society to use to fund practical ‘rescue’ work. The CETS responded by appointing two missionaries to Southwark Court with the aim of ‘reclaiming drunkards’. The missionaries developed a system, with the magistrates’ approval, that allowed the release of offenders on the condition that they kept in touch with the missionaries and accepted guidance.
These missionaries supported the offenders by helping them to maintain or find work and to abstain from drinking. They provided advice and guidance based on Christ’s example of caring compassionately for those in need. By 1886, just eight years later, due to the success of those early court missionaries, the Probation of First Time Offenders Act allowed for courts around the country to follow the London example and appoint missionaries to work alongside offenders in court and in the community. The emphasis at this time was on telling them the gospel and encouraging abstinence from alcohol. Missionaries belonged to different Christian churches and temperance societies.
From around 1890 the British Women’s Temperance Association (BWTA) began their work of appointing female missionaries to support female offenders, as there was a recognition that there should be ‘Women for Women’ in courts, police stations and prisons. Their job description was ‘acting a sister’s part towards a sister in misfortune’.
Such was the success of these Christian missionaries in caring for and guiding the male and female offenders that, in 1907, the Probation of Offenders Act gave the missionaries official status as ‘Officers of the Court’; they would later be called probation officers. The new role was a paid position and has carried on to this day: there are now over 21,000 employees of the modern-day Probation Service. Up until the 1990s the motto of the Probation Service was to ‘advise, assist and befriend’; however, that has been changed to ‘assess, protect and change’ as there is a growing understanding of the need to also consider the impact of crime on society and the victims’ lives.
Probation staff work in courts, prisons and the community, supporting people to make positive changes to their lives to stop them hurting others and themselves in the process. To this day the Probation Service has a large proportion of Christian staff, including myself, who feel called to this work, to walk alongside some of the most vulnerable, isolated and often despised members of our society. Whilst the service began working with alcoholics, it now works with all levels of offender from shoplifter to murderer, drink driver to sex offender. The number of people being supervised by the Probation Service in England and Wales is currently around 250,000!
An exhibition about the Probation Service origins is touring the country until August 2024, being hosted by a range of faith venues (see details below). It is well worth a visit – I am sure it will be a great encouragement.
There are so many needs in our current world and sometimes it can seem overwhelming, but we should be inspired by the simple origins of the Probation Service, where a small amount of money, used wisely with prayer and trust, can lead to an amazing change, not only in the individual lives of millions of offenders, but in their families and communities. I wonder what the legacy of our generation of Christians will be – will we have the faith and belief to use our money, faith and hope to allow God to work wonders in our local communities?
Emily Andrews is a Probation Officer based in Sussex and has been with the service for over 20 years. She is part of Christchurch, Haywards Heath.
