Secure residential children’s care home
Cronk Sollysh, St Christopher’s secure care home on the Isle of Man, challenges historical attitudes to secure accommodation. Our social pedagogic approach empowers staff to keep young people at the centre of their practice, grow their self-belief, and prepare them to reintegrate with the community.
The home is an option for young people aged 12-18 who can be accommodated on welfare, remand or custodial grounds. Though we maintain high levels of security and safety, we make sure the home feels like a home, not an institution. Young people take up opportunities to consider their actions and reflect on the consequences so they are ready to move forward when they leave the home.
'I have appreciated how I have been treated here as I did not know what to expect.'
Because we provide a range of services, we can use our specialist knowledge from across the sector to help each young person. This includes high quality care, education and therapeutic work, all of which positively impact young people’s lives.
The home is also the base for our Community Intervention Project, working with young people who are drawn to risky or offending behaviours. By building relationships at an early point, we introduce preventative measures in place to ensure they take the positive path away from the criminal justice system.
'Once you get to know staff, you know what their motives are, you know what to expect, you can believe that they are going to help you not just tell you what you need to do.'
By showing young people the influence they can have over their own lives, they leave our home with improved self-esteem and positive decision making skills.