Revd Allison Waterhouse - CCA trustee

Allison became engaged with prison chaplaincy in 2002 at Brixton Prison while she was minster of the multi-cultural Brixton Methodist Church. After ten years of church leadership and working with organisations of the ‘inner city’ such as Streatham Streetlink, she sought work as a Prison Chaplain.  

Since 2005, when she became involved with the CCA, the focus of prison chaplaincy has been ‘through the gate’. At Wormwood Scrubs, she set up a Community Chaplaincy and then became Resettlement Chaplain at Wandsworth Prison. She was involved in setting up PACT’s Basic Caring Community and working with Multi Agency Public Protection representing and enabling faith communities to support the release of sex offenders and high-risk prisoners.

She later set up Wandsworth Community Chaplaincy Trust - Change for Good of which she is still trustee. Change for Good has now amalgamated with the Community Chaplaincy at the Scrubs. This is a small step towards the long-term hope for a London-wide Community Chaplaincy group resettling prisoners in London. A membership of prisoners sharing lived experience and developing their own initiatives in the community to stop re – offending at Change for Good’s ‘Next Chapter’ is also an aim.

Community / Resettlement Chaplains are very isolated, working in a challenging area, the CCA provides a forum for peer support as well as practical and professional advice. Allison has benefitted from this, so has a particular interest in supporting the work of the CCA.

Allison ‘retired’ to study at Wesley House Cambridge. Her PhD is a reflection on her work and is an investigation into the transformative potential of spirituality in the lives of Christian (ex) prisoners. She is also a spiritual director.