Giving Ex-Offenders A Chance

I was very impressed with the quote below from John Timpson, Chairman of  high street chain Timpson, in the business section of yesterday's Telegraph:

"....our biggest achievement is the way James and his team have employed people from prison in a way that works brilliantly both for them and our business - 8% of current Timpson colleagues joined us from prison. One week during November all the customer compliments I received were praising service given in shops run by ex-offenders.
My big disappointment is that so few companies have followed our example. Greggs the Bakers is the only other business to embrace the concept with real zeal." 

Well done Timpson's! There is more on their work in this field here. 

Comments

[Kate]

This is so important, the statistic quoted in the article you link to says it all: "61pc of people leaving prison re-offend within two years but if they get a job that drops to 19pc". Most people leaving prison don't want to commit further crimes, but they come out with almost no prospect of employment and often lacking life skills as well. Well done Timpsons indeed for having enough faith in these people to give them a chance.