HACRO volunteers with a business background contribute to the Business Venture programme at The Mount prison which is run for men who want to get into self-employment on release. Our volunteers discuss business plans and do research online which is then passed to the course tutor for use by the men. At the end of the course the volunteers become dragons in a Dragons Den session when all the plans are presented.
What impact does it have? A report by the Centre for Entrepreneurs in May 2016 quoted research in Germany showing that the re-offending rates of prisoners who attended entrepreneurship courses were much reduced – down to 11% from the average in Germany of 46%[1]. We do not have comparable research here, but we do know that people in employment are much less likely to commit crime.
It is worthwhile and stimulating work.
To find out more about HACRO’s Business Venture programme, please get in touch:
Address :62-72 Victoria Street, Sector-63,
St Albans, Herts, AL1 3XH
E-Mail :hacro.office@zen.co.uk
Tel :01727 854727
[1] Quoted in The Guardian. Click the Guardian logo to read.
