Faced with high reoffending rates, HMP Onley reached out to the local business community for help. One company that stepped forward was Ricoh and it has put in place a series of initiatives to improve prisoner employability. One programme has been so successful that prisoners are staying at Onley rather than moving to open conditions prior to release, so they can continue the Ricoh-sponsored training.
“The best way to describe the impact Ricoh is having, is how much prisoners themselves value it. As part of the rehabilitation process, prisoners go from HMP Onley to an open prison where the regime is much freer and relaxed. Since introducing the Ricoh programme, prisoners have started to delay moving to open prison before they have completed the Ricoh Academy course. In my experience, that is very unusual.”
Paul Birbeck, Industries Manager, HMP Onley
