By Daisy Mills, Head of Business and Enterprise, RIFT Social Enterprise
The journey from prison to meaningful employment can be a long and difficult one for those who have found themselves caught up in the criminal justice system. For many, the barriers to successful reintegration into society can feel overwhelming, hopeless and even impossible. At RIFT Social Enterprise (RSE), we’re on a mission to change that. Our goal for the work we do within the prison and probation space is to support those with lived experience of the criminal justice system in discovering new opportunities for self-employment, providing the tools and guidance necessary to build successful, sustainable careers. We feel that changing the narrative for people in prison is key to keeping those in custody employable. By encouraging self-belief, confidence and providing educational tools to give people hope for the future and something to look forward to upon release, we’re creating an environment where people can thrive. Through initiatives like our workbook, holistic “through-the-gate” program and WISE Project, we are helping participants overcome the challenges of transitioning from prison to self-employment, ensuring that the barriers to success are not simply endured, but overcome.
We recognise that the road to employment for prisoners begins long before they are released from prison. In fact, the story of RSE begins inside the prison gates with our CEO, Andy Gullick. Having worked in the criminal justice sector for almost 25 years. Andy could see first-hand the need for an intervention that enabled people to do something they had a passion for, could apply their existing skills to, and not have the continuous worry of their past impacting their future. Many of the men would comment that they wanted to “be their own boss” or run a business that meant they could utilise skills or vocations they’d learnt inside, work flexibly and see maximum benefit from their efforts.
Our “Through-The-Gate” program was designed with those in custody in mind and takes participants through a carefully structured journey, both in and out of prison. We’ve curated a “journey” that takes into consideration some of the biggest barriers that the prison population face, including high levels of neurodiversity, low reading age and low self-confidence, and have co-created resources with participants to understand what is important for them when starting a business. A resource we’re incredibly proud to have co-created is our Business Start-Up Workbook. Initial research highlighted that there was a real lack of gender-specific resources in women’s prisons. In response, RIFT Social Enterprise collaborated with the women we support to create a dynamic 54-page workbook designed to guide them on their self-employment journey. We used tools such as interviews, surveys and group sessions to understand what was important to include, what common barriers were and how we could work together to overcome them, as a result our workbook is able to be independently completed and is fully inclusive with needs, such as a high percentage of neurodivergence in prison, and low literacy levels taken into consideration. To evaluate the workbook’s effectiveness, we have also piloted it in a male prison. This allows us to assess its adaptability and identify specific challenges faced by men. Through this collaborative process, we’ve developed both a generic workbook and a gender specific version tailored to women. They key findings for us is that content was able to remain the same, just that each study group had a preference on inclusive language and imagery that they felt represented them best. We have also found our workbook to be an incredibly effective tool in assessing business viability across wider contracts, and a great learning resource when used with young people in a further education setting, especially those on a vocational course that lends itself well to self-employment, such as hair and beauty, construction and the creative sectors.
We begin by working with individuals while they are still in custody, helping them to plan for their release, build business ideas, and prepare for the transition into self-employment. This work includes developing soft skills, such as communication and problem-solving, and working on confidence, as well as more practical business skills such as how to start thinking strategically about starting a business, preparing a business plan and giving thought to next steps upon release.
One of the most inspiring parts of our work is watching real people transform their lives through self-employment. We met Sam* in 2021 when he was coming to the end of his time in prison after being sentenced at a young age for a murder charge. Sam knew that he wanted to start his own painting and decorating business upon release, so in his final three months of his sentence, he was referred to RSE for support. We worked with Sam via PurpleVisits, a secure video calling platform used within the prison system, to match him with a suitable Business Start-Up Advisor, unpick his business idea, develop a clear business plan, build his personal brand, and understand the financial aspects of starting a business. All of these were tasks he could start thinking about whilst still inside to equip him to start on the right foot upon release. He completed our workbook and told us that it was great to have something that made him feel so inspired and excited for what was next.
Our program covers not just business support, but also support around confidence, emotional resilience and wellbeing, which are key parts of rehabilitation and also really important aspects of becoming a business owner. This was very important as Sam reintegrated into society after such a long time inside that he knew that his dedicated Business Start-Up Advisor was at the end of the phone when needed. We worked with Sam on his digital literacy skills, to teach him how to use Microsoft Teams, how to build a logo and a website and how to get his business online via social media.
Throughout the 12 months on program with us that began upon release, Sam went from strength to strength with his business and found so much value in his monthly support sessions, our interactive webinars and e-learning platform, as well as our free of charge tax return at the end of the year as Sam was a sole trader.
Towards the end of time on program, Sam told us: “I would like to take the time to say thank you so much, so far and beyond. I really appreciate how you’ve helped me and taught me how to be self-employed. I really couldn’t thank you more, you’ve given motivation and boosted my vision. I’m staying driven now and only way is up for me, thanks to you.”
For us, it’s always been key that we stay in-the-know on the day-to-day of prison life. Two thirds of our Senior Leadership Team have a place on Prison Employment Advisory Boards (EABs) which are committees designed to advise, support and challenge prisons on their training and employment offer to prisoners and prison leavers. We’re also really proud to say that twenty percent of our customer facing staff have lived experience of the criminal justice system themselves. This involvement allows us to stay informed about the latest trends, policies, and innovations that could impact individuals we support, ensuring that our work is always in line with the most up-to-date best practices and needs of participants.
We strive to put participants at the heart of our service and are currently working on a program called WISE (Women Into Self-Employment) specifically across female prisons in the UK. This program is an action learning initiative dedicated to empowering women through self-employment. With this project, our aim is to bring positive change to the prison system and advocate for the integration of self-employment support into core prison education programs. By adapting the action learning approach, we are taking a dynamic approach to problem solving and social learning by encouraging groups to come together to focus on real opportunities and challenges faced by women in prison. By using a collaborative approach, we’re able to work together with those we support to shape the future of our service delivery and use insightful questioning, reflecting and collaborative learning for a shared goal of improving education for women in prisons. We’re hoping to influence national practice by listening to what our participants themselves say that they would like from a self-employment service, and us adapting and refining our service delivery accordingly.
As we continue to expand our impact, we look forward to working with more individuals, businesses, and communities to make lasting change. If we can provide the tools, mentorship, and belief in their potential, we know that people with lived experience of the criminal justice system can not only enter the workforce – they can change the game entirely. For more information on our work and to get involved, visit www.riftse.co.uk or get in touch via dmills@riftse.co.uk.
