18/02/2026
Fresh Start
The little victories: Fresh Start 2026
Read CEO Andy Keen Downs' introduction to the February 2026 issue of Fresh Start, in which he shares the 'little victories' that keep all of us at Pact going.
The news about prisons and the wider criminal justice system has been so bleak for so long that it has been called a ‘permanent crisis.’ So people often ask me how I – and all of the team at Pact – keep going. ‘How do you keep so cheerful and positive when you are working in a failing system?’ we are asked. I understand the question. It’s tough. We see a lot of difficult things. We deal with a lot of trauma, pain and suffering. We have to be resilient.
But what people rarely if ever see or hear in the media are the little victories. The ways in which a person’s life, or the life of a family, is changed, thanks to the kindness and dedication of others.
In the February 2026 edition of Fresh Start, we share Colin's story. Colin is a ‘Pact Peer’. What that means is that Colin provides support to his peers. Colin is in prison, and so his peers are other prisoners. And he wears a Pact t-shirt and is proud to be part of the charity. For one very special day, Colin found himself in the House of Lords.
Every day, I have the privilege of seeing letters, postcards, sometimes emails, from people whose lives have been touched by Pact. Sometimes, it is about surviving the darkest of times. Sometimes, the change is profound and lasting. Here’s a note from a prisoner that one of our staff in a women’s prison shared with me yesterday. The prisoner is called Maeve.
‘Thank you for everything you have done for me and although I was annoying and sometimes probably hard to work with, you always had faith in me from Day 1. You gave me the strength and hope to carry on.’ Maeve
I was struck by the honesty of this note. Maeve knew that her behaviour was challenging. She knew that our worker in the prison had been endlessly patient. We’d shown Maeve that we had faith in her. We understood that sometimes, the people who are the hardest to help, the hardest to love, are the people who need it most. And we were there from day one… the day Maeve entered the prison and left her children behind.
Being told that Pact gave Maeve ‘the strength and hope to carry on’ is all most of us at Pact need to carry on ourselves. Our work is about the Colins, the Maeves, and the hundreds of ‘little victories.’
Sometimes, we use our voice to speak loudly - to challenge the Government on their behalf. We achieved an important result in the past few weeks, persuading Lord Timpson to get rid of a ‘naming and shaming’ clause from the new Sentencing Act. And in the months ahead, we will continue to campaign for practical support for prisoners’ children.
But most of our time, effort, and the money you kindly donate to Pact, is spent working for the little victories. Good Luck Maeve. Good luck Colin. We wish you well.
Pact’s Lenten Appeal
As we prepare ourselves during this time of Lent, we remember that at the end of the season, Jesus died on the cross beside the two thieves. One of those thieves, Jesus promised that he would be with Him in paradise, and we know that St Dismas was the first saint. A reminder to us all that Jesus responds to us in love and mercy.
During Lent, we have opportunities to reflect that love and mercy into the world. You can join us as we pray each week for prisoners, those who have a loved one in prison, those working in the Criminal Justice System, those who are victims and survivors and Pact staff and volunteers. For more information follow Pact Faith in Action channels on social media.
It is also possible to reflect Jesus’ love and mercy, when you donate to our Lent Campaign ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’. Your support helps continue our work to provide people with their fresh start.