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Crime Solicitors

HMP/YOI Kirklevington Grange marks success of prisoner rehabilitation scheme with local businesses (25 April 2016)

Date: 25/04/2016
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, HMP/YOI Kirklevington Grange marks success of prisoner rehabilitation scheme with local businesses

Local employers in North Yorkshire have met to celebrate the positive impact that training, education and work is having on offenders.

At an event on 21 April, the business community in North Yorkshire gathered to hear how offenders – in prison and in the community – are being equipped with skills to lead “a purposeful and productive lifestyle” upon release, with testimonies from both employers and prisoners endorsing the benefits of the working relationship.

Many offenders confirm a link between their offending history and ability to secure meaningful paid employment.

In response, HMP/YOI Kirklevington Grange has generated links with employers, training providers and learning skills agencies to offer meaningful work-based activity, education and apprenticeship schemes, which can serve to accommodate both skills shortages and the long-term vocational aspirations of interested participants.

This includes making contact with a number of industries and business providers – generating paid work in sectors such as hospitality, construction and manufacturing.

Continuing to source and network its business contacts as part of the resettlement and rehabilitation ethos, the prison is working to overcome stereotypical perceptions in terms of prisoner employment, which it says represents both a challenge and a sense of achievement when an employer reports a successful outcome.

Prisons Minister Andrew Selous spoke at the event and said:

“As the Prime Minister has said, we need a prison system that doesn’t see prisoners as simply liabilities to be managed – but instead, as potential assets.

“HMP/YOI Kirklevington Grange runs a robust approach to prepare offenders for resettlement into their local community, which is vital to provide the skills and training necessary for employment.

“I am pleased to see so many employers today who are giving prisoners the opportunities to turn use these skills in sustained work upon release – and to turn lives around for good. This will lead to less crime, fewer victims and safer streets.”

The prison also provides a wide-ranging curriculum of formal learning, including skills such as Maths and English, as well as industry-based training such as woodwork and welding.

HMP/YOI Kirklevington Grange Governor Angie Petit said:

“We are really passionate about reducing re-offending at HMP & YOI Kirklevington Grange – and we know that one of the key ways we can achieve this is to help prisoners into employment on release.

“This returns people into the community as better citizens, with increased self-esteem and more able to contribute to society in a positive way.”

The Ministry of Justice is urging businesses across the country to see offenders as potential assets – and is encouraging employers to work with prisons to employ offenders in custody and on release.

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