Supporting change

It's not just our health and social care services that support communities.

Since 2006 we have been supporting the rehabilitation of currently serving offenders by offering volunteering placements in our shops.

We work with currently serving offenders, from both open and closed prisons. These prisoners are reaching the end of their custodial sentence and are released on temporary licence so that they can start the process of rehabilitation and resettlement.

Evaluation of Prison Volunteer Programme (PVP)

An independent evaluation of the Sue Ryder PVP Programme was launched at the House of Lords recently. This evaluation was fully funded by the Bromley Trust. The report is very positive about the programme and its outcomes and value to the individual, the charity and the community.

You can download the report here: An evaluation of the Prison Volunteer Programme (pdf)

Is there a risk?

They are considered to be the lowest risk within the prison system and have worked hard to improve their life choices. And all the prisoners are fully risk assessed before being released on temporary licence.

Volunteering with us gives them the opportunity to give something back to the community, while equipping them with skills that will increase their chance of finding paid employment on release.

Key facts:

• we benefit from 40,000 volunteering hours from the prison service each year (equivalent to £240,000 of man hour costs)
• we work with over 60 prisons across the UK
• around 150 placements pass through Sue Ryder every year
• we have 100 placements at any one time volunteering across the charity
• ex-offenders cannot prove themselves unless someone gives them a second chance
• preventing one person from re-offending can save the tax-payer upto £45,000 a year
• ex-offenders are 13 times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population
• finding a job is the single most important factor in re-offending - it can cut the risk by half
• some of our prison volunteers have moved on to paid work with us
  
  
  

Feedback

Stephen Moreton, Head of Education and Development at Attend, described Sue Ryder's Prison Volunteer Programme as a 'pioneering' scheme with 'much to teach and inspire the wider volunteer-involving community'.
His paper reflects discussions with Carol Davis, Prison Volunteer Programme Coordinator (England and Wales, South).
Attend is a national charity that supports and expands the roles volunteers play in creating healthy communities.

Our supporters

We'd like to thank the following organisations for their support of the Prison Volunteer Programme:

The Big Lottery Fund for supporting PVP England & Wales until June 2015

The Gannochy Trust / The Robertson Trust for supporting the PVP in Scotland until June 2013

We'd like to thank the following organisations for their previous support of the Prison Volunteer Programme:

• The Bromley Trust
• John Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust
• Lloyds TSB Foundation
• Pilgrim Trust
• Vandervell Foundation
• Voluntary Action Fund

Read our PVP case studies