Mental Health Awareness Week is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of support, connection, and understanding, especially for people trying to rebuild their lives after difficult experiences. Sharon’s story is a powerful reminder of how creativity, community, and encouragement can help people rebuild confidence and hope, even after immense challenges.
Sharon was referred to InsideOut after being released from prison, having served six years of a 14-year sentence. Before her conviction, she had worked as a Probation Service Officer, alongside roles in social services and charities, including the YMCA. She was raising two children as a single parent and described her life before prison as “normal”. Everything changed in 2019 following her sudden arrest.
Despite her experience working within the criminal justice system, nothing prepared Sharon for the reality of prison. She spoke about the shock of losing control over her life and entering an environment that felt isolating, traumatic, and emotionally exhausting. During her sentence, she also witnessed first-hand the scale of the mental health crisis affecting women in prison, including high levels of self-harm, trauma, and emotional distress.
While in prison, Sharon experienced devastating personal losses, including the deaths of both her parents. Unable to attend their funerals or grieve with family, she described how deeply this affected her mental health.
At a time when she felt isolated and overwhelmed, she turned to writing as a way of coping. What started as journaling gradually became poetry. Writing gave Sharon a way to process grief, express difficult emotions, and hold onto a sense of identity during an incredibly painful period in her life. Her work was later recognised by Koestler Arts, and she began performing her poetry publicly, including at a Black History Month event in the prison.
Following her release, Sharon faced the difficult reality of rebuilding her life. Like many people leaving prison, she had to navigate housing, benefits, employment barriers, and the emotional challenge of adjusting to life outside after years in custody.
Through InsideOut, Sharon received one-to-one support from our InsideOut coordinator Angus, who worked closely with her to build her confidence, develop her CV, explore opportunities, and stay focused on her goals. Sharon spoke about how important it was to have someone who recognised her potential and encouraged her to keep moving forward, even during setbacks.
That support helped Sharon begin turning her lived experience into something that could help others too. Through the National Literacy Trust, Sharon started delivering paid creative writing workshops in prison settings, helping others use poetry and self-expression as tools for wellbeing and reflection. She has also launched a purpose-driven clothing brand called “5%”, named after the percentage of women within the prison population. The project aims to raise awareness of the mental health challenges women in the criminal justice system face, while reinvesting 5% of profits into mental health support for women in prison.
Less than a year after her release, Sharon has achieved so much, but her story is also about something bigger. It highlights the importance of compassion, second chances, and mental health support that sees the person behind the circumstances.
This Mental Health Awareness Week, Sharon’s journey reminds us that recovery is not something people should have to face alone. With the right support, encouragement, and opportunities, people can rediscover their confidence, reconnect with their strengths, and create positive change for themselves and for others. At VCKC, we are committed to helping people in this way through services like InsideOut. If you would like to help us continue this work, please consider making a donation to support people when they need it most.
InsideOut is funded by the Henry Smith Foundation and the Leigh Trust.
Find out more about our InsideOut programme here.
