Summary: An urban housewife reluctantly takes an unexpected phone call from a young man serving a long sentence in prison - they connect over a Ben Harper song and the seeds for social enterprise Five8 were planted. In this episode Tania speaks to Andie Patchett, co-founder of Five8 and Michael, an ex-offender who credits Five8 with ending his 20 year cycle of re-offending. Andie and the Five8 team are building a radically different approach to supporting prisoners and ex-offenders in their transition to the outside world by creating a pro-social support network who support inmates before and after their release, through visits, phone calls and advocacy. They also run a social enterprise training offenders and ex-offenders to make boutique hand sewn products. Five8 are based in Melbourne, Australia but have programs through out other states. What Five8 Does: Building pro-social communities around prisoners and ex-prisoners. Advocacy. Social enterprise. Craft. What You Can Do / What They Need: Volunteering Five8 need people with a variety of skills and levels of commitment. We need volunteers to support prisoners before and after their release to empower them in their reintegration into society, nurturers, administrators, networkers, grant writers. Volunteers are required to attend a Five8 training day. Donate Goods: We need buttons, zips, fabrics, knitting wool and clean rice or potato hessian sacks. Please email info@five8.org if you can help. Donate Money: If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to Five8 their account details are on their website. Website: www.five8.org Email: info@five8.org EPISODE CREDITS: Landscapes of Late (Northbound) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Lost Without.... (Jared C. Balogh) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Ben Harper "Power of The Gospel"NERDY DATA REFEREED TO IN THIS EPISODE: During the June quarter 2012, the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia was 29,482 persons. This was an increase of 179 persons (1%) from the March quarter 2012. Australian Bureau of Statistics 4512.0 - Corrective Services, Australia LINKS TO ORGANISATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Corrections Victoria VACRO supporting people adversely impacted by their contact with the criminal justice system in Victoria. Circles of Support and Accountability (Canada) Marngoneet Prison
