Thirty ex-offenders are being helped to build new lives thanks to Salford’s pioneering Jobs not Prison project.
Salford Community Safety Partnership, which brings together Salford City Council, Greater Manchester Police and a range of other organisations to tackle crime, launched the project with the Broughton Trust a year ago.
Dedicated workers help the men find work in Salford’s booming construction industry, thanks to local connections. They also pay for safety equipment and cover travel and subsistence costs until the men receive their first pay packets.
According to the Prison Trust, within a year of leaving jail 48 per cent of adults are reconvicted of an offence and only 17 per cent are in employment.
Thanks to Jobs not Prison 17 ex-offenders are now holding down jobs (57 per cent), 13 of whom no longer need support from the project. Sixty three per cent of those taking part now have a CSCS card to work in the construction industry. Only six of the group (20 per cent) were recalled or returned to prison through conviction for historic offences and all have either returned to the project or plan to do so when they are released.
Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety, said the scheme was part of Project Gulf, set up in 2010 to steer people away from crime as well as tackle gangs and organised crime.
“People with criminal records can struggle to find work which leaves them vulnerable to being drawn back into a life of crime. This project is offering them the chance to break that pattern so they can turn their lives around,” he said.
“We’ve seen coaching and mentoring help deter young people from getting involved in crime and find a better way forward. Now it’s working for adults who have taken the wrong path and want to change.”
Graham Cooper, project manager with the Broughton Trust said: “This is about taking away barriers to getting a job that pays good wages. It starts by cutting out the recruitment process which would disadvantage ex-offenders. Then we help them get photo id documents and set up a bank account as well as covering the costs of starting work. And we give them the encouragement and support they need.
“It’s about giving people who have made mistakes a second chance and a secure and safe future. We are very proud of all those taking part and grateful to local employers who are supporting them.”
Funding Jobs not Prison has come from Project Gulf, Project Challenger, the Greater Manchester wide initiative to tackle gangs and organised crime and Greater Manchester Police which refers offenders to the project.
Detective Superintendent Chris Packer said: “This is a project which recognises the importance of ensuring that adults, who may have had difficulty keeping out of trouble in the past, have an opportunity to have a true and proper stake in society that steers them away from future serious and organised crime.
“We appreciate the difficulty that those with criminal records can have when striving to get back into employment and therefore the support that this project offers has our unwavering commitment.”
