Volunteer Mentors help offenders' employment prospects

16th Mar, 2011 to 30th Sep, 2011

Volunteering to help offenders gain employment can have great benefits for both offender and mentor.  Under the REACH employability project, funded by EU Social Fund cash, Derbyshire Probation is seeking more volunteers to train as mentors to offenders placed with the project.

Probation's ETE team (Education, Training and Employment) have worked with offenders for many years to help them gain the educational and work skills to boost their employability.  Holding a steady job is proven to be a very strong influence on avoiding re-offending.

REACH mentors assist the project by using their life skills to provide extra motivation to those offenders who often have multiple needs which disadvantage them greatly when seeking employment.

Carl, a mentor who volunteered last year, said:

"I wanted to use my experience to help others and my training added to my life skills.

"The people we work with have many personal issues, but the offender is always carefully paired with the mentor, so I am confident I can work with my allocated offender."

For more information on REACH, ETE or becoming a mentor, contact our ETE team at Willow Row, Derby on 01332 361 200.