In this blog, Justin Tracey a Business Development Executive from Nacro retells his amazing day at Twickenham, hosted by the 3Pillars Project during Insights22.
The 3Pillars Project uses rugby, a bio-psychosocial intervention, to rehabilitate young offenders. At the event I learnt that, counterintuitively, visceral contact sports like rugby, unlike football, actually reduces aggression and anti-social behaviour, not encourages it.
Using trust-based relationships, the project nurtures the young person’s pro-social identity: they learn self-control, emotional modulation, boundary and goal setting, self-discipline, empathy and the importance of collaboration and teamwork.
The project can support the young person on their whole journey from prison into the community: after completing an 8-week rugby apprenticeship in custody, they can receive one-to-one mentoring through the gate and support into employment. This can be supplemented with sport qualifications, placements and a leadership programme.
Leon, a charismatic ex-apprentice, who now works for the St. Giles Trust as a mentor for children excluded from mainstream education, gave us an inspiring talk on the 3Pillars Project.
We all have our own personal super-heroes that we love and aspire to, luckily for many of us, they are family and friends. The 3Pillars Project through sport provides super-heroes for the many young people in the criminal justice system who sadly do not have one. Even more amazing 3Pillars Project takes young people like Leon and help them become the inspirational super-heroes and role-models of tomorrow.
Jennifer Mustoe-Castle, Chief Operating Officer at 3Pillars Project commented, ‘Not often do we have the opportunity to welcome staff from across the MOJ to discuss sport and rehabilitation so it was such a joy to hear the passion from everyone in attendance. After brilliant feedback, we are already planning a return to Twickenham for 2023 for the next Insights event!’
For further information on this fantastic organisation please visit
