Blog
HACRO Rap
Watch the new music video! It's been a long wait but today sees the exciting release of the music video to our first track - "HACRO Rap". After months of of hard work the song tells the journeys of all the participants on Building Better Opportunities (BBO) Project....
HACRO 2021 Highlights
HACRO’s AGM 2021
HACRO's AGM 2021 HACRO had a successful AGM yesterday, on the 16th November - thank you to all those that attended! We are sorry to say goodbye to John Walker, his role as Treasurer has come to an end. He will be greatly missed. We also say goodbye to Natasha Stephens...
HACRO ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2021
Hertfordshire Awards for the Ex-offenders Given a Second Chance Who Now Give Back to the Community HACRO held their Annual Awards on the 20th September with Awards presented by Robert Voss CBE CStJ, Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Lionel Wallace DL, High Sheriff...
Funders
HACRO would like to thank all of our funders for supporting our mission and vision! With out your funding, HACRO wouldn't be able to provide the invaluable service that we do, to offer people a second chance and to support them in turning their lives around.
Dedicated Dads
Our Executive Chair, Valerie Beale was invited to do an interview on Radio Verulam, to talk about the success of Dedicated Dads. Dedicated Dads was born from Caring Dads ceasing due to the pandemic and there being a desperate need for an alternative. It has been so...
BBO in 2020-2021
HACRO has been part of the Building Better Opportunities (BBO) project since October 2016. Jointly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund, BBO is managed by Herts County Council. Project Strive is part of the programme which deals...
Preventing domestic harm, rebuilding relationships during Covid-19 restrictions
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on families with rising incidence of domestic abuse. Even more challenging is rebuilding previously broken relationships at a time of social distancing. In 2020, responding to the initial COVID lockdown, Hertfordshire charity HACRO...
Employers who hire ex-offenders
Unlocking the potential of the UK’s ex-offenders Read more - By Blayne Pereira Highlights More than 10 million people in the UK have a criminal record Many of them fall at the first hurdle when applying for jobs because they’re forced to disclose a record on...
Ex-offender success stories: Prison entrepreneurship
Prison entrepreneurship: 'Giving a little bit of belief goes a long way' By Emma Featherstone - The Guardian - read more With the inmate population and suicide rates at a high, a new, government-backed, enterprise course could help rehabilitation One thing is...
Support for Dads in prison
PRISON DADS LINE UP TO SPEAK FROM THE HEART By Lauren Baldridge - Spurgeons childrens charity - read more In the first of a Spurgeons summer blog series focused on the importance of dads and positive role models to children’s development, Spurgeons PR...
Ex-offender success stories: Derek Jones from prison to entrepreneur
Derek Jones: From prison cell to email entrepreneur By Caroline Le MarechalBBC News, Bristol Mar 2013 After leaving the family home at 15, he had become a repeat offender by his 30s. Upset because he had received no letters from his girlfriend, he came up with an...
Employers who hire ex-offenders: Greggs
Greggs the baker gives a taste of work to ex-prisoners By Brian Groom High street chain’s hiring strategy is repaid with loyalty from hard-to-place employees Greggs, the high street bakery chain, is among a growing number of UK companies that are hiring former...
Creativity in Prison: I drew my way out of prison: Erika’s story
HACRO have been searching for inspirational stories from ex-offenders. Erika's story is about how she made the most of a bad situation and looked to the future: By Prisoners Education Trust: When Erika went to prison she set herself the task of drawing a...
Lewis Hardy – Reading bedtime stories helped me survive prison
Picture - Trevor Burrows HACRO have been searching for inspirational stories about staying in contact with your children and keeping that bond while in prison and found Lewis's story: By Dougal Shaw BBC Stories Lewis Hardy was struggling in prison, feeling...
Boots employing ex-offenders
HACRO have been looking for Employers who specialise in the recruitment of marginalised groups within society. Helping to reduce re-offending As a large employer with an influential supply chain, Boots believes in recruiting people from all walks of life,...
TERRY ELLIS – Swapping a life of crime to going straight
Picture - Martin Godwin for the Guardian HACRO have been searching for inspirational stories and found Terry Ellis’s story. Terry Ellis set up a business to help others leaving jail, very inspirational story: By Matilda Munro...
Timpson’s give ex-offenders a second chance
Picture - Jon Super/The Guardian HACRO have been looking for Employers who specialise in the recruitment of marginalised groups within society. Timpson's are one of the few Employers who do this, amongst supporting numerous other socially minded projects. Below is the...
HACRO Achievement Awards 2019
HACRO Achievement Awards 2019: HACRO celebrates those who’ve changed lives in Achievement Awards 2019 The HACRO Achievement Awards 2019, now in their third year, celebrate the journeys some ex-offenders have made to turn their lives in a direction that is more...
Supporting Families
Supporting Families - what support do families get? Family members may have mixed feelings about the imprisonment of a loved one, shock, devastation or even sometimes relief. One of the many worries that a family member of an offender will experience is the...
HACRO Achievement Awards 2019
HACRO celebrates Ex-Offenders and their supporters who’ve changed lives The HACRO Achievement Awards 2019, now in their third year, celebrate the journeys some ex-offenders have made to turn their lives in a direction that is more meaningful and crime-free. The...
Resettlement of offenders
Resettlement of offenders - what is resettlement? Resettlement is a term used by prisons to describe resettling back into the community upon release and preparation for life after prison. There are a number of organisations who are there to support ex-offenders upon...
Advice for offenders
Advice for offenders - what is available? Advice for offenders can be limited but there are always websites that can be utilised. 'Prisoners Advice Service’ http://www.prisonersadvice.org.uk/ where there is a lot of information on a number of topics for example:...
Prison Charity
What Does a Prison Charity Do? As a prison charity one of HACRO’s main responsibilities is to offer support to offenders and their families. Rehabilitation is a key role of a prison charity, for an offender to have a connection to their family and friends and a...
Working with offenders
Working with offenders: Why is it a good idea for an offender to think about employment or starting up their own business? HACRO offer a number of programmes for offenders which focus on planning for employment/self-employment: to enable them to turn their lives...
Volunteering in Hertfordshire
Volunteering in Hertfordshire: HACRO offers 'volunteering in Hertfordshire opportunities' and some paid work too! We currently have 57 volunteers and a handful of paid staff, we are looking to build a stronger team and provide you with some great local volunteering...
How WorkAbility Works: A Case Study
“Billy” was one of the participants on WorkAbility Workshop 3 which started in June 2018 in Stevenage. Billy is in his late 20s and suffers with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and has poor literacy skills. His education had been very disrupted having...
Prisoner Helps Peers
Prisoner Helps Peers. HACRO recognizes a serving prisoner who has helped other prisoners change their lives. At their recent Achievement Awards, HACRO recognized a serving prisoner at HMP The Mount with the full support of the prison Governor. The man, who must remain...
Exceptional Couple Who Never Gave Up
Exceptional couple: HACRO Achievement Awards recognize an exceptional couple who never gave up on their prodigal son. HACRO Achievement Awards celebrate the success of some of those who have not only turned away from crime but have turned their lives around; and they...
HACRO Achievement Awards 2018
HACRO Achievement Awards 2018: HACRO celebrates those who’ve changed lives in Achievement Awards 2018. The HACRO Achievement Awards, now in their second year, celebrate the journeys some ex-offenders have made to turn their lives in a direction that is more meaningful...
Project Strive
HACRO and its partners are running a pilot project to check the WorkAbility concept and its outcomes. The pilot is based at Emmaus St Albans and the course is being delivered by tutors from the WEA. Susan Pope, Area Education Manager for the WEA commented, “The WEA...
HACRO Completes Herts Community Foundation Building Effectiveness Programme
HACRO has just completed a 12 month programme run by the Hertfordshire Community Foundation to build effectiveness in the voluntary sector across the county. HACRO was one of 10 charities chosen to participate on the basis of their capacity and ambition to change. “We...
Working at the Mount Prison – an inside view
Mount Prison. These 2 blogs have been written by a senior member of staff at HMP The Mount and give a good idea of what it’s like working inside a prison. Click here for The Mount Prison opening times. What’s it like working in a prison? I am often asked “What is it...
AT THE MOUNT PRISON H IS FOR HAWCS
The HAWCS are a team of hard-working Health & Wellbeing Champions who are prisoners at HMP The Mount in Hertfordshire. They have all passed NVQ Level 2 in Understanding Health Improvement. The teams’ main objective is to improve the Health and Wellbeing of the...
Hard Work and Some Holiday Season Fun!
With over 25000 visitors to HMP The Mount each year, including nearly 5000 children in 2017, the organisation and well running of the Tea Bar by the HACRO Organiser and the team of Volunteers remains essential to the ongoing work involved in running The Visitors’...
HACRO WorkAbility Gets Thumbs Up
HACRO’s first WorkAbility course ends next week. Here’s what two of the participants have to say about their experience of WorkAbility: “I have found the course to be very helpful. I have managed to improve my self-confidence and learned positive and vital information...
Getting Local Business Support for HACRO WorkAbility
A key objective of HACRO WorkAbility is to develop links with the Hertfordshire business community, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. Many Hertfordshire businesses, particularly in the construction and hospitality sectors, are now looking for...
WorkAbility Pilot Project
HACRO and its partners are running a pilot project to check the WorkAbility concept and its outcomes. The pilot is based at Emmaus St Albans and the course is being delivered by tutors from the WEA. Susan Pope, Area Education Manager for the WEA commented, “The WEA...
Introducing HACRO WorkAbility
What is WorkAbility? WorkAbility is a new HACRO initiative for supporting ex-offender employment and reducing their likelihood of re-offending. It is a partnership between the public sector (National Probation Service), private sector (BeNCH CRC), and voluntary...
HACRO CONFERENCE 2017 HIGHLIGHTS PLIGHT OF HIDDEN VICTIMS OF CRIME
HACRO’s 2017 conference theme, “Hidden Victims: Offenders’ Families,” uncovered the pressures on families who have a member in prison. Overwhelmingly it is women who are left to pick up the pieces…
HACRO ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017 IN PICTURES
Take a look through photos, taken at the HACRO Annual Conference 2017. Thank you to everyone that attended, we hope you had a good time learning more out about HACRO and each other…
HACRO President calls for more effective strategy
The recent disruption at HMP The Mount is not unexpected, and it is likely to be reproduced elsewhere. While prison staff cope heroically under extremely difficult and often dangerous conditions…
Striving For Success with STRIVE!
The aim of the project is to engage offenders who experience complex barriers to employment and support them into sustained employment…
How Employing Ex-Offenders Works
15 years ago, I visited Thorn Cross, a prison near Warrington. I was there to set up a conference that was taking place the following week. Matt, the inmate who showed me round was so impressive…
ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017
ANNUAL CONFERENCE. Thursday 28 September 2017, Hertfordshire Constabulary HQ, Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6XF, CONFERENCE
Caring Dads, A Participant’s view of the Course
Caring Dads is a course to help men become better fathers. Things they don’t teach in school and you are somehow supposed to know, like…
The Prison Reform Bill Must Combat Cycle Of Re-offending
It is encouraging to see in the Justice Secretary’s open letter of 21 June 2017 a renewed commitment to the rehabilitation and reform of those going…
Prison reform: open letter from the Justice Secretary
Justice Secretary David Lidington sets out the essential reforms under way to make prisons places of safety and reform. From: Ministry of Justice…
WH Times Covers the HACRO Achievement Awards 2017
More than 150 people flocked to the HACRO (Hertfordshire Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders) bash last …
An Evening of Achievement with HACRO
The HACRO Achievement Awards celebrated the significant achievement of some ex- offenders who…
Visitors Centre at HMP The Mount and some recent HACRO staffing challenges!
The work that HACRO is involved in at The Visitors’ Centre at the Mount seems to have become busier over Winter 2016…
High Sheriff’s visit to Caring Dads
“I was delighted to visit the Caring Dads Programme, meet the dads and Group Facilitators and sit in during…
HACRO Recognised Twice in High Sheriff Awards 2017
This year Hertfordshire’s High Sheriff, Stelio Stefanou, made Partnership the theme of his prestigious…
HACRO and Three Counties Radio, with Tony Franklin
An interview on Three Counties Radio with Tony Franklin from HACRO, guest Charlie Bradford and not forgetting…
HACRO in Pictures
HACRO in Pictures. Take a peek at what we’ve been doing, through a set of pictures taken at various locations…
Venture into Business at HMP The Mount
HACRO volunteers with a business background contribute to the Business Venture programme at The Mount…
HACRO Achievement Awards
HACRO is delighted to announce that the first ever HACRO Achievement Awards will be held at 6.30pm on 31 May 2017…
HACRO Video – Leaving Prison Behind
HACRO is pleased to be part of project STRIVE. STRIVE being the acronym for Support and Transition Routes…
PROJECT STRIVE
STRIVE is one of three Building Better Opportunities projects and focuses on barriers to employment…
Hertfordshire charity lend a helping hand at Emmaus St Albans
HACRO a Hertfordshire based charity that supports the care; rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders have been…
HACRO Highlights Housing Issues at 2016 Conference
“Lack of affordable housing is a major issue; and so is lack of suitable housing for men coming out of prison,”…