You’ll sense a theme emerging
with many of our posts here – JOBS FOR EX-OFFENDERS HELP PREVENT THEM GOING
BACK BEHIND BARS! However, a quote from the late, great Joe Strummer - “career
opportunities, the ones that never knock” - is especially true for our clients.
We work in Leeds under West
Yorkshire Probation Step Change programme which helps priority and prolific
young offenders get jobs. This is a tall
order in the current climate... but the team have made excellent headway
against the odds.
Jobs for our clients can come
from the most unlikely places. One woman
we worked with in prison many years ago has since gone on to set up an award-winning
pig farm. 25-year-old Stuart (not his
real name) came into contact with our Leeds team after a history of frequent
offending – fairly standard stuff for young blades off the rails – drugs,
taking without owners consent, burglary etc, etc.
As is often the case in such
situations, Stuart needed a firm plan to work towards. Our caseworker Natalie sat down with him to
find out what he really wanted to do.
Stuart had initially said he wanted to get into construction but had
decided it wasn’t for him after embarking on basic skills training. He was due to be released in February and we
needed to get him hooked up with something to keep him occupied.
Stuart had been recently
approached by a jockey training school and was curious to find out more. Following an application, he was offered a
place on a 12-week residential course to train for an entry stage qualification
in racehorse care.
Step Change were able to provide
funding for the course fees and the essential but costly equipment he needed:
skull cap, jodhpurs, boots, wellies, etc, etc. He was all set to start his course but a
problem
struck when he was informed that he was no longer eligible for JSA, would not
get a training allowance and would therefore be for 12 weeks with no money.
Living off thin air might have
deterred many people but not so for Stuart who remained fully motivated and
stated that he would deal with it - nothing was going to stop him have the
opportunity. Not only would it help him
get work, it would have the important bonus of getting him out of the local
area which tended to drag him back into his petty criminality.
Natalie remained in regular
contact with Stuart who absolutely loved his course. He met new people, quickly became confident
in handling and riding the horses. In
fact, he loved it so much that he didn’t go home at the weekends but remained
on site, building his skills and learning his trade.
Stuart is now attending weekly
race meetings and meeting potential owners and trainers who might offer him
that all important next step on the ladder.
With his tutors delighted with
his progress and the possibility of further training on the horizon, it looks
like Stuart’s dark days are finally behind him.
His horizons are broadened, his mind is refocused and his network is new
and positive. There is some real sense
of prospects and this gives him hope.
A stable job (‘scuse the terrible
pun!) is the ultimate aspiration for most of our clients but the door is always
slammed in their face.
Stuart’s got ahead. We’re sure that
next time he’s ‘on the inside’ it’s on a racecourse – not in a cell!
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