MBF wins NOMS grant funding

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has announced grant funding of £1.4m today to support the development of mentoring and volunteering services for offenders.  MBF with project partners youth charity The Prince’s Trust and St Giles Trust, were successful in obtaining grant funding to develop an online hub to promote mentoring services and volunteering opportunities for offenders and ex-offenders.

This national development aims to join up and improve the accessibility of information about mentoring services across England and Wales and to encourage a significant increase in the number of volunteers and mentors working within the criminal justice system.  The online hub will also be piloted within prisons so prisoners can also safely access information about volunteering and mentoring. Research has shown that quality mentoring can offer support to offenders and ex-offenders as part of a resettlement package to reduce re-offending and to gain new skills - both through receiving mentoring support as well as  becoming volunteer mentors themselves.

MBF and consortium partners will facilitate this development on and behalf of volunteering and mentoring projects that work directly with offenders, ex offenders and their families.

Steve Matthews, Chief Executive of MBF said:

“We are delighted to be driving forward the development of an online hub for the sector which will provide a national platform for volunteering and mentoring. We are looking forward to working with existing and new partners and networks to identify and promote high quality mentoring and volunteering opportunities and to increase the number of offenders, ex-offenders and their families acting as volunteers and mentors”

The funding attracted 100 applications, with funding being awarded to a total of eight voluntary sector organisations. Other grant recipients include: Care Leavers Association, Caring for Ex-Offenders, Female Prisoners Welfare Project – Hibiscus, the Network for Black Professionals, Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), SOVA, and Together Women Project.

Further press information

Contact:  Sharon Cranny on sharon.cranny@mandbf.org or by telephone on 03300 882877 or 07760754499.

Notes to Editors

1. This funding is part of the National Offender Management Service Reducing Reoffending – National Voluntary Sector Grant Funding awarded over 2.5 years.  The contact at NOMS regarding this project is Bettina Crossick.
2. The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF) aims to increase the effectiveness and quality of mentoring and befriending as methods of enabling individuals to transform their lives and/or reach their full potential. MBF currently have a growing network of 1,200 members of which 300 are offender related projects. Further information is available at www.mandbf.org or from MBF’s project lead Jeanette Boyd on jeanette.boyd@mandbf.org
3. The Prince’s Trust helps change young lives. It gives practical and financial support, developing key workplace skills such as confidence and motivation. It works with 13-to-30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. The Prince of Wales’ charity has helped more than 650,000 young people since 1976 and supports 100 more each day. Last year, more than three in four young people supported by The Trust moved into work, education or training. In April 2011, Fairbridge became part of The Prince’s Trust. The new united organisation will help 50,000 young people this year. Twenty per cent of young people supported by The Trust last year were young offenders. The Trust is piloting a leaving prison mentoring scheme to support offenders pre and post release and helping them gain the skills and qualifications they need to find work. Further information is available at www.princes-trust.org.uk
4. St Giles Trust aims to break the cycle of offending, crime and disadvantage and create safer communities. St Giles Trust have delivered volunteering and mentoring in the South East and London for the last 49 years and currently work in 11 prisons. As an organisation they provide support to over 12,000 offenders and ex-offenders each year. Further information is available at www.stgilestrust.org.uk

Read the full press release here

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