Pilot Scheme to work with those with lived experience of the criminal justice system
CIPD Trust launches a Pilot scheme working with people with lived experience of the criminal justice system to help them adjust back into the workplace
Pilot scheme collaboration
The CIPD Trust has teamed up with two organisations, St Giles Trust and Offploy, to run a pilot supported by the people profession, developed to help people with lived experience of the criminal justice system re-enter the workplace and sustain current roles.
Over 100 people professionals signed up to find out more and lend their support at a webinar which was hosted this week to launch the initiative, which is a first for the CIPD Trust.
The CIPD Trust was created last year to help get people into work, back into work and develop in their roles. It aims to be inclusive and to inspire change by empowering people to seek and secure opportunities through providing access to the expertise of CIPD members and industry partners.
Sally Eley, Head of CIPD Trust, said; “We are thrilled about this pilot and exploring new ways of supporting those who have lived experience of the criminal justice system by leveraging the skills and expertise of the people profession. Getting a job is one of the key factors in supporting those with lived experience get their lives back on track and with the cost of reoffending costing the economy c £18 billion a year, initiatives like this are exciting as they have real potential to scale.
We’re running the pilot over six months and will have about 20 mentors and mentees who will be matched together and work together to rebuild things such as confidence, skills and help those who have been out of the workplace for sometime become comfortable and settled again.
We are delighted to be working with St Giles Trust and Offploy who both have significant expertise in this area which they will bring to the pilot.”
Andrew Parker, skill centre manager at St Giles Trust, said; “This is an exciting partnership. We have a lot of members of staff with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Our aim is to create social justice and a society where everyone has a future. We want those who have put their lived experience behind them to benefit from the experiences and expertise of others and to empower them at work.”
Rik Willis, Service Manager at Offploy, said; “We are looking forward to working in partnership with CIPD on this pilot to promote positive change . We have had great success with peer mentored programmes for those just out of prison. Employers often come to us asking how to hire people with convictions but don’t know where to start. Running this project with CIPD will give more HR managers the confidence to safely hire people with lived experience but also give many of our candidates the vital new chance that they need.”
For more information about the pilot or the CIPD Trust please contact: cipdtrustteam@cipd.co.uk
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