Why Community Payback?
It’s not just our health and social care services that support communities.
Since 2006, we have been supporting the rehabilitation of offenders by offering volunteering placements in our shops and retail spaces. We work with people on probation from all over England, Scotland and Wales to enable them to serve their community sentences in their community, and contribute towards our strategic aims for being there for people when facing death or grief.
Many of our Community Payback volunteers have said the programme played a key role in helping them develop the experience and job-ready skills needed to secure a job, if they were not already employed.
In 2025, 1,525 people on probation undertook their Community Payback with us and contributed 109,506 hours in our charity shops. This accounted for nearly 8% of the total volunteer hours in retail that year, and was worth £1.34 million to the charity. We have a national agreement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which commits to the charity working towards offering Community Payback placements in 75% of our shops.
- We were the first national charity to sign a contract with the MoJ
- Sue Ryder is the leading national charity with regards to providing Community Payback hours in individual placements. This can be attributed to the standard of placement we offer to people on probation, the fact that we do not have under-18s volunteering in our shops, and our in-house training for shop staff to make sure our placements are inclusive and welcoming, but also structured and adhere to the rules and terms of a community placement.
Is there a risk?
People on Probation in our retail spaces are considered to be the lowest risk within the community. All of them are fully risk assessed by a probation practitioner before being placed with us.
Why we work with people on probation
Individuals with a criminal record are three to four times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population. It is well documented that employment is critical to the prevention of re-offending.
Sue Ryder’s Community Payback scheme addresses this issue head-on, giving people on probation experience in retail, teamwork and merchandising, while also providing the opportunity for them to give something back to the community.
Many of the people on probation who started with us on community sentences now volunteer with us out of choice. A significant number have gone on to gain paid employment with us.
I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to serve at Sue Ryder. This placement has truly been a heart-changing experience for me. It was not just about completing hours - it became a personal journey of reflection, growth, and giving back
Our volunteers
From providing vital employment skills to boosting confidence and self-esteem, our Prison Volunteer Programme has had a big impact on volunteers.
Key facts
From providing vital employment skills, to boosting confidence and self-esteem, our Community Payback scheme has had a big impact on volunteers.
- We have around 450 people on probation doing their Community Payback with us at any one time.
- Over 50% of our shops regularly take people on probation on Community Payback placements.
- At least 14.3% of the total retail volunteers recruited in 2025 were from Community Payback
- Reoffending in England and Wales is estimated to cost taxpayers £22.7 billion per year. Sue Ryder contributes to the reduction of this cost by being the biggest charity provider of Community Payback hours in England and Wales.