Justice Secretary Chris Grayling on Monday 3rd November 2014, attended the official launch of Mosaic’s employability scheme which will provide a range of employment opportunities for prior offenders enrolled in Mosaic’s Ex-offender mentoring programme. The first corporate partners for the scheme also attended the event and included CEO Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, CEO MITIE Group PLC and Iqbal Wahhab OBE, founder of Roast Restaurant. Working with corporate partners, Mosaic will endeavour to increase rehabilitation for ex-offenders within the Muslim community.
Although Muslims make up only 4.2 per cent of the total population, they represent 13.4% (or 1 in 7) of the British prison population with the number more than doubling in the past decade to nearly 12,000. Yet research suggests that Muslim prisoners are not accessing the support they need to successfully integrate into society and employment upon release.
Employment is proven to reduce the likelihood of re-offending by up to 50%. The new scheme aims to address this by helping more young Muslim offenders gain vital employability skills and mentoring directly from large employers.
Mosaic, an initiative of Business in the Community, runs a fully funded Ex-offender programme works with young Muslim prisoners aged 18 to 35 years old who are approaching the end of their custodial sentence. Developed in partnership with the Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH) it offers a one-to-one mentoring relationship for 12 months; six months during custody and six months in the community. Mentors work alongside prison staff to provide support and stability by offering wide-ranging practical assistance, including helping prisoners to secure housing and employment.
The partnership, between Mosaic, and Mitie the FTSE 250 strategic outsourcing company, will involve volunteers from Mitie supporting prisoners from HMP/YOI Isis and HMP Brixton through employability workshops over the next year. Mitie will also offer work placement opportunities to participants. In addition, Mosaic has secured further support to help ex-offenders engaged on their mentoring schemes from Borough Market’s Roast Restaurant and Millwall Football Club.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "We cannot go on with a situation where thousands of prisoners are released onto the streets every year with no guidance or support, and are simply left to reoffend.’’
"Many prisoners have had fractured childhoods, addictions, exposure to violence and a lack of positive role models. Mentors can't unpick all of that. But they can give offenders a fair chance of staying on the straight and narrow by being a wise friend, supporting them with finding a job or somewhere to live. This needs businesses, like Mitie and Roast, to step up to the plate by providing mentors and job opportunities alike."
Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, CEO of Mitie, said “The Mitie Foundation is dedicated to creating opportunities for people of all backgrounds to join the world of work, by raising aspirations and unlocking people’s true potential. We are delighted to be able to support Mosaic’s efforts to help those who wish to turn their back on previous criminal activity to get back in to the workplace, making a positive contribution to society.”
Iqbal Wahhab OBE, Founder of Roast & Cinnamon Club restaurant, said “As the originator of Mosaic’s offender mentoring programme, I believe this is a hugely beneficial development. At Roast we firmly believe that we’re less interested in where you have come from and more in where you want to go. I am proud of Roast’s commitment to helping ex-offenders and hope that many other businesses will step up to the plate.”
Continuing our support to Muslim Ex-offenders, Mosaic is conducting research with the Prisons Reform Trust and the Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge to explore the current high population of Muslims in prison.
