Teaching offenders skills to help reduce re-offending

HMP Northumberland is home to a variety of industries including a tailors' workshop. The workshop building itself used to be an aircraft hangar, but is now occupied by Sodexo's three strong team of instructors.

The team looks after around 80 offenders each day, Monday to Friday, and is responsible for equipping offenders with the skills, knowledge and confidence to use the variety of machines within the workshop, including the sewing machines.

Output from the workshop centres around cut, make and trim garments such as catering coats, food service aprons, shirts, banners, bedding and towels. They also recycle old uniforms and transform them into dog coats.

There is a real work ethic within the workshop, which provides offenders with the best environment to gain an NVQ in manufacturing, English and Maths. This high-quality training enables the offenders to do their job effectively and also recognises and accredits the skills that they have learnt and developed. Offenders that can prove their skills and experiences are much more likely to be able to secure employment on release. Statistics have proved that offenders who secure employment are 50% less likely to re-offend. 

One of the offenders recently said this of his role within the workshop:

There’s a lot of trust placed on me in this job, and while l’m doing it, I feel like l’m at work at a proper job. 

The team has a fantastic bond with offenders and supports them throughout their time in custody. They have also developed a relationship with a local charity, Alexa’s Animals, a dog rescue centre, and have produced and donated a large material banner promoting the charity’s brand. It’s now been used at various events, and this great piece of work by the workshop team has been really well received by the charity. 

The instructors have overseen the production of a variety of merchandise which is being sold at the prison shop, as well as at the recent Wellbeing Day and Social Inclusion Day. And thanks to their support, guidance and supervision, offenders submitted the prison’s first ever entry to The Koestler Awards, and were subsequently chosen to have their work exhibited at London’s South Bank last year. This is an excellent achievement as there were 7,000 entries submitted and their entry was one of only 220 to be put on show.

We offer a range of exciting and rewarding jobs. Please see http://sodexojobs.co.uk/ for our current vacancies in Sodexo Justice.

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