Women with experience of addiction, trauma and offending are supporting each other to rebuild their lives through a prison-to-rehab programme in Scotland.
A partnership between HMP Stirling and Calderglen House, a residential rehab in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, is helping women in recovery build a future beyond prison.
For many leaving custody, the weeks and months after release are the most critical, marked by a sharp rise in the risk of drug-related harm and instability.
The residential rehabilitation scheme aims to help women break the cycle of addiction – with those in the community describing it as “life-changing.”
‘I begged the judge to go to jail’
STV NewsFor Bobbi, moving directly from prison to Calderglen became a vital next step in her recovery.
Her addiction spiralled out of control in 2022 when she was fleeing domestic violence.
“I’d been trying to get into rehab since then. I’d lost my home, I’d lost my kids.
“I took several attempts on my life before one last time I asked for help and was begging a judge to go to jail.”
She describes the support she received in HMP Stirling as “absolutely amazing”.
“I opened up to the staff,” she said. “I used them in the manner that they were there to help me.”
The prison to rehab scheme operates throughout Scotland.
HMP Stirling, Scotland’s only women’s prison, allows women to apply for a place, with recovery staff identifying those who may benefit.
STV NewsPotential residents are assessed face-to-face before being accepted, with the aim of ensuring they are ready to engage with residential treatment.
Dedicated recovery officer Mirrin is passionate about helping women in addiction.
“A lot of the women we care for are really traumatised. Prison is a really good place to start your journey and to build motivation but it’s ultimately not a place to get well.”
Bobbi is now undertaking an extended programme at Calderglen.
She says without the move into residential rehab, she feared she would have returned to addiction, potentially becoming homeless after leaving prison.
“My addiction would have fuelled the minute I left the gates if I wasn’t coming to Calderglen,” she added.
Her journey was also influenced by another woman, Kelly, who had already been through the process.
“When I heard about Kelly and saw how she’d changed her life, I thought, ‘wow, if Kelly can do that..’ That’s what inspired me to go to Mirrin and say, ‘look, I want to speak about rehab.'”
‘I turned my life around’
STV NewsKelly spent more than two decades in active addiction and says she had three overdoses in one week before going to prison.
“It’s not just saved my life, it’s changed my life. They’ve took a chance on me and I’ve turned my life around.”
She too had struggled to get support in the community and had asked to be sentenced to custody, believing it gave her a chance of accessing the help she desperately needed.
“I didn’t like the person I’d become. I didn’t like the things I was doing but I was stuck in that chaotic cycle and I couldn’t break it until I went into recovery at the prison and Calderglen.”
After completing a stay of several months, Kelly was helped to relocate and prepare for life after rehab. Now, as part of a two year aftercare plan, Kelly returns regularly to Calderglen House to offer peer support to women currently receiving treatment.
“I’m such a caring, loving person but I wasn’t in active addiction and I know some people are stuck in that and they don’t have to be.
“I’ve got empathy for others and I want to support them. They don’t have to stay in the chaos.
“You can get out of it. I know it’s hard, but you can do it.”
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