The High Sheriff of the West Midlands, along with regional prison governors, prison officers and business people, joined the Beating Time team outside of HMP Birmingham this morning to mark the beginning of The Right Track – a 100-mile 5-day walk to Manchester which aims to raise awareness and vital funds for our peer-led, post-prison employment programme, Inside Job.
Inside Job was founded in 2019 by our CEO Heather Phillips, who is also High Sheriff of Greater London and Jonathan Floyd, who was serving a sentence at HMP Birmingham at the time.
‘The Right Track’ – walking together with people who want to put back, not go back – marks Jon’s release from prison and the beginning of his journey home – a stark representation of how long a road it is for most people leaving prison to get back to any form of normality.
Inside Job has a basic premise, to train people who are serving their own sentences as recruiters to find candidates in prison who are committed to changing their lives. Inside Job then takes employers into prison to interview them so they have a job offer before they leave.
Statistics show that having a job upon release from prison cuts the chances of reoffending by half, and the project, which started in HMP Birmingham in April 2021, has been so successful that Inside Job has now been adopted by five West Midlands prisons and has over 80 participating employers, including KPMG, HSS Hire and VGC Group.
The team has now set off on their 100-mile journey and has already been filmed by the BBC and interviewed by local radio stations. Below are some highlights from the journey so far.
We’re aiming to raise £35,000, which will help us secure 50 jobs for people who have served a sentence, but we need your support!
> To find out more and help us achieve our fundraising goal, please visit our GoFundMe page.
