Education and training

St Giles Trust

'Reducing re-offending through education'

There are strong links between homelessness and crime, with the Social Exclusion Unit's 2002 report on re-offending saying that 30 per cent of people who go to prison are homeless already and up to a further 30 per cent lose their home while in prison. Without a home there is a danger that ex-prisoners will re-offend simply because they are destitute and desperate. However, the vast majority of prisoners can obtain local authority housing if properly referred, and short term prisoners who have a tenancy can be helped to save it by making a housing benefit claim.

Therefore St Giles Trust decided to target the lack of knowledge of these issues, by training selected prisoners, allowing them to advise other inmates on housing and resettlement. "We are one of the few organisations to have found a way to reduce re-offending", according Diane Gault, head of fundraising at the Trust. She adds that the benefits are not just to the prisoners: 'For every person who does not re-offend, we save society £164,000, the cost of convicting a person and keeping them in prison for one year.'

The Trust now works in 18 prisons across London and the South East, and largely due to the success of the peer advice project, reaches over 15,000 people a year with housing and resettlement advice.  It now has a team of 11 trainers delivering the NVQ3 in Advice and Guidance to prisoners, and since April 2006, 78 serving prisoners have completed the qualification, while a further 56 are close to completing. One prisoner sums up its impact: 'I didn't notice the change while it was happening. It's only through looking back that I realise how far I have come. Had I not done the NVQ3 in prison I would probably still be offending.

Diane Gault
Head of fundraising
Georgian House
64-68 Camberwell Church Street
London SE5 8JB
020 7703 7000
Reg no: 801355
www.stgilestrust.org.uk

Inclusion Trust

'Improving inclusion in education'

According to research conducted by the University of Central Lancashire, over 100,000 young people are missing from school rolls in Britain, while in 2005 10 per cent of young people were listed with the Office of National Statistics as not in education, employment or training (NEET). The Inclusion Trust believes that alternative provision can often be unsuitable and young people are slipping through the gaps, not receiving an education.

Notschool.net is the Trust's flagship programme, providing education to 13-16 year olds who have no opportunities for learning through traditional routes. By providing an innovative way of learning through new technology, it breaks down cycles of poverty by reducing the number of NEETs. Chief executive Jean Johnson believes such individuals simply need to harness their skills in the most suitable way. 'Young people never cease to amaze me, with their talent and motivation. You hear in the press about troubled youth causing problems, but I don't see that.'

Since coming into existence in 20002 as a DfES project, over 2,800 young people have been through the programme, and it now deals with 1,000 per year from 36 local authorities. Of those leaving in June 2006, 61 per cent went on to college, of which 49 per cent were full time and 12 per cent work related placements. A further 18 per cent had found work. Given that on joining notschool.net these young people were completely disaffected with education, the results impressed the judges. 'The programme is excellent and a lot of lives were changed by it.'

Jean Johnson
Chief executive
Unit 2, Stansted Courtyard
Parsonage Road
Takeley
Essex CM22 6PU
01279 873030
Reg no: 1111425
www.inclusiontrust.org

UK Career Academy Foundation

'Raising awareness of the business world'

Business charitable support for young people tends to focus on the extremes, either the disaffected or the gifted and talented. As a result, 12 senior members of multinational companies got together and decided to target the significant, but often overlooked, middle achievers. They did this by adapting the career academy model of the US to a UK context, via the formation of the UK Career Academy Foundation in 2002.

The Foundation establishes career academies, delivered through existing schools and colleges. Students receive a three A-Level business studies curriculum, alongside internship, business mentoring, seminars and visits. "The students benefit from a focused and applied business programme," says director Martyn Drain. "They gain an idea of what the business world is like and are able to make a much more informed choice. It is all about raising aspirations. We work primarily in inner city schools where typically they do not have a family background of working in business."

From a pilot in three institutions supported by a handful of companies, the charity now impacts on the work of over 130 employers and 75 UK schools and colleges. Student performance has also been impressive. As one student, Sultana, says:" I used to think that the people in Canary Wharf were really different and that I was invisible to them. Working with them, I realised they were just like me. The Career Academy has given me a glimpse of a world that I thought I couldn't be part of. "
 

Martyn Drain
Director
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5LB
020 7986 5494
Reg no: 1092891
www.careeracademies.org.uk

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