A LIMERICK-based mentoring and family support service is looking for victims of crime to share their experience to help empower others.
Le Chéile Mentoring is a national, volunteer mentoring, restorative justice, and family support service, supporting children, young people, and their families where the child or young person is involved in or at risk of offending.
It also currently runs a restorative justice project, funded by the Limerick Regeneration Project, now under Limerick City and County Council and Young Person’s Probation.
Alan Quinn, Le Chéile regional manager, said that “at times, we work with people who, after completing victim empathy work, feel ready to meet the victim of their crime. Understandably, although offering lots of potential positive outcomes for themselves, victims sometimes do not feel ready or willing to meet the person.”
“When this happens Le Chéile will ask one of our restorative justice volunteers who has been a victim of a similar crime to step in and share their experience with the person we are working with.
“Our volunteers tell us that using the unfortunate incident from their past to help another person move away from committing crime is very powerful and healing.”
In Limerick, Le Chéile helps people before the courts and is one of five community organisations providing restorative justice interventions across the country.
If you have been a victim of crime and would be interested in using the experience to do something beneficial for others, get in touch with Le Chéile’s restorative justice coordinator Simon Keating on [email protected].