SBFM Joins Employment Advisory Board to Rehabilitate Ex-Offenders

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13 July 2023

SBFM has been invited onto the Employment Advisory Board as part of a programme that links prison leavers with local employers who can offer their expertise on skills, qualifications and training. 

Colin Shute, Owner and Founder of SBFM, will chair the Employment Advisory Board, which will also see Kelly Dolphin, People and Social Impact Director, sit on the Board.

SBFM works closely with 10 per cent of UK prisons, including Feltham Young Offenders Institution, a prison for male juveniles and a young offenders institution. The company also hosts careers talks’in the prisons to share expertise and help build trust with inmates. 

The Employment Advisory Board was set up by James Timpson OBE, Chief Executive of the Timpson Group, in 2021. Since then, over 98 prisoners have worked with the service, 76 have received job offers and 33 are successfully in a job.

Kelly Dolphin, People and Social Impact Director, said: “Many people leave prison and re-enter communities alone. That can be a very lonely and confusing existence. This isn’t about simply filling vacancies. It’s about creating a strategy for inmates to help forge a career and a new life. This scenario presents a genuine win-win outcome as it addresses deficiencies in skill supply across multiple sectors, simultaneously fostering a more secure future for individuals and reducing the likelihood of them engaging in criminal activities.”

Between April 2020 and March 2021, 38 per cent of adults released from prison reoffended in the 12 months following their release. According to the Ministry of Justice’s Prisons Strategy White Paper in 2022, reoffending is costing society over £18 billion a year. One of the key drivers of the EABs is to reduce these numbers and integrate offenders into meaningful careers.

Colin Shute, Owner and Founder of SBFM, added: “Too often prison leavers are released with nowhere to go, and in many cases become homeless. That must change. They need security and stability in order to rehabilitate, and the EABs provide just that. Enabling the reintegration of ex-offenders into the labour market holds immense advantages for UK businesses, while also serving as a crucial lifeline for these individuals who are in search of employment opportunities. Although we are still in the early stages of this rehabilitation journey, we are already witnessing tangible positive societal and business impacts emerging from this approach.”

Picture: a photograph of Colin Shute. Image Credit: SBFM

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 13 July 2023

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