Andrew Barwick

"It was partly over a lunch with Peter Farley that I heard something of his vision, and his quest for funding, for someone to work directly with those who had been arrested. An ‘Arrest Referral Worker’ to work in Norwich police custody (Bethel St at that time) and Norwich Magistrates Courts, with those with high offending and substance misuse.

It was an example of the old adage ‘from small acorns big oak trees grow! Certainly, in the above example from a seemingly limited and tenuous beginning grew a work where all Norfolk custody and Magistrates courts were accessed daily, and much broader aspects of work were undertaken within the growing ‘Criminal Justice Team’. A team that grew to approximately 16 and which I was privileged to manage for 14 plus years.

During those years I was fortunate to work with many excellent Matthew Project colleagues and established many friendships within the team and the agency more broadly, I look back at my time in the Matthew Project with great affection and will always remember how it started, hearing and catching Peter’s vision."