The Justice Secretary, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, today witnessed the signing of an agreement between Mitie, the FTSE 250 strategic outsourcing company, and Mosaic, HRH The Prince of Wales’ mentoring charity, in a new partnership that will directly support ex-offenders.
The partnership will provide ex-offenders with important transferable skills, experience and mentorship, through a series of workshops and training programmes that ultimately lead to a work placement within Mitie.
The workshops, taking place at HMP Isis, will concentrate on activities that help people to improve skills and abilities in networking, presentation and communication and also to build up the participants’ confidence levels.
The programme is overseen by the Mitie Foundation, Mitie’s charitable arm. It builds on the foundation’s Ready2Work scheme, an eight week on-the-job work experience programme that involves working with Mitie or its clients and partners, and has succeeded in getting more than 70% of candidates into employment.
Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, Chief Executive of Mitie and trustee of the Mitie Foundation said: “The Mitie Foundation is dedicated to creating opportunities for people of all backgrounds to join the world of work, by raising aspirations and unlocking people’s true potential.
“We are delighted to be able to support Mosaic’s efforts to help those who wish to turn their back on previous criminal activity to get back in to the workplace and make a positive contribution to society.”
Jonathan Freeman, Managing Director of Mosaic said: “The reoffending rate for short-term prisoners stands at around 60% yet the likelihood of reoffending can be cut by up to 50% if an offender leaves prison with secured accommodation and employment.
“Providing mentoring support to ex-offenders can provide a significant contribution to stemming the rising disproportionate number of Muslims in the prison system. I wish everyone involved much success.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Click here to access our latest Mitie imagery…
About the Mitie Foundation
The Mitie Foundation, which was launched last year, is Mitie’s charity arm focused on creating opportunities for people of all backgrounds to join the world of work, by raising aspirations and unlocking people’s true potential. The Foundation’s work centres around three main areas (employability, education and enterprise) using the resources of Mitie (primarily its people) to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work.
About Mosaic
Mosaic’s Young Ex-Offenders Mentoring Programme provides one-to-one mentoring support for those making the difficult transition from prison back to their communities.
Mosaic Ex-offender Mentoring Programme provides focused support and mentoring opportunities to prisoners aged 18 to 35 years old approaching the end of their custodial sentence. Mosaic’s trained mentors meet prisoners three to six months before release to establish a long-lasting relationship which continues into the community-integration phase. The mentors offer wide-ranging practical assistance, including helping prisoners to secure housing and employment. With these vital support structures in place, the likelihood of re-offending in the future is significantly reduced.
The Programme involves a one-to-one mentoring relationship for 12 months, with an approximate commitment: of 1-2 hours per month. Mosaic provides full training for mentors, which runs over a full weekend; training is used both as a means of selection and as a way of imparting information.
For further information, contact:
Helen Greenwood
Investor and Public Relations Manager, Mitie Group plc
T: +44 (0) 203 123 8731 M: +44 (0)7467 442 962
E: helen.greenwood@mitie.com