About Us
Aid & Abet supports people involved in the criminal justice system in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lothian, with a focus on those who have been in custody. It is an initiative that is led by people who have, themselves, been in prison, mostly as a result of addiction problems. This direct experience gives Aid & Abet its strength.
Our vision is: “Once someone has been in prison, they need never go back”.
The name puts a positive spin on a well-worn piece of legal jargon. We aid people, and abet them in their determination to make good on their intentions to avoid the routes their past has taken them in.
We were set up in June 2014 and gained Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) status in February 2016.
In this video from the NHS’ Awareness and Skills for Quality Improvement Training co-founder Kevin Neary talks about his life story and the purpose that drives the work of Aid & Abet.
The Founders.
In early 2014, a group of guys got together to discuss the idea of supporting men and women who had experienced the criminal justice system prison. Some of us had been in rehab together, others had served prison sentences together and others used drugs together but now we were all in recovery from addiction and wanted use our experiences to help people who are caught in these cycles.
We all had stories to tell about leaving prison and the support we received on our release, some were positive, others were negative. However, we all shared the same feeling of not being understood by our workers and feeling alone in our battle to stay out of prison.
It became clear very quickly, that we wanted the men and woman who have experienced addiction and criminal justice system not to feel alone. We could share our experiences and journeys to give them hope in making positive choices towards a brighter future where the revolving prison door is not the only option.
We wanted to show them compassion and empathy and that we would share our life experiences to do that. We had walked in their shoes at one point. We too had been in prison, we too had issues with drugs and alcohol, we too found it hard trying to settle back into our communities and trying to find purpose in our lives, that would not lead us back to prison or addiction. They were not alone!!!!