HMP Lincoln has partnered with Offploy and Bishop Burton College to deliver a course to help prepare residents for employment in the manufacturing industry. The employability element will be delivered by ex-prisoners.
The course, which will begin delivery in January 2019, will see 12 residents of HMP Lincoln complete seven weeks of industry-specific training prior to their release each with a dedicated Offploy case worker supporting them on a one-to-one basis to help them progress from custody to a meaningful life in the community.
Carol Haigh, a master’s student at the University of Huddersfield, will be heading up the project on behalf of Offploy as a part of her degree placement. She will be managing the relationship between the prison, the education provider and Offploy to ensure all are working towards the goal of resettling the candidates on release.
Our own Social Employment Advisor, Ben Walker, who recently visited the Justice Secretary at parliament, will be delivering our employability sessions around CV writing, disclosing convictions to employers, managing personal finances once employed and essential interview skills. These skills, combined with Bishop Burton’s ‘passport to manufacturing’, will open the doors to a wealth of careers for the graduates of the programme.
With the new Prison Education Framework looming, this project is an example of true collaborative working between the prisons, the education providers, the voluntary sector, employers and people with lived experience to help people with convictions live contributing lives where they turn their back on crime and provide for their family.
Offploy is excited to be leading on the project and can only encourage prison governors, education providers and employers alike to visit the project, meet our team and follow this blog for future updates.
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