Ex-offenders employment charity calls on Government for £1m to tackle prison overcrowding
(Press Release)
Funding could save tax payers over £25.63 million
1,100 ex-offenders to be placed in long-term jobs
Charity Tempus Novo has 95% success rate placing ex-offenders
A charity with a 95% success rate of placing ex-offenders in long-term jobs is calling on the Government for £1 million of critical funding to tackle prison overcrowding.
The cash would fund 22 Tempus Novo case workers, each supporting 50 ex-offenders into employment – saving the UK tax payer a massive £25.63 million while breaking the cycle of crime for 1,100 candidates of the scheme.
Tempus Novo is a Yorkshire-based national charity with a track record of success during its decade of work. It has already placed nearly 1,000 ex-offenders into sustainable jobs with no Government funding.
Under the current model, it costs the charity £3,500 for every person they support into employment compared to around £46,600 per year that it costs to keep someone in jail - making central funding even more important to the charity.
What makes the charity unique – aside from its success – is its support structure, which continues to run for 12 months for both the ex-offender and the company after they start their new job to make sure they stay on track. That has lasting benefits for each person and the economy, with more tax and national insurance paid into the system per candidate too.
The organisation has partnered with major employers from John Lewis to Finsbury Food Group, GXO and Maersk – and its ambassadors include Andy McNab and Sir Lenny Henry.
It wants to do more in its 10th anniversary year which is why co-founders and former senior prison officers, Val Wawrosz and Steve Freer, are calling for major funding to expand the impact of Tempus Novo.
Val Wawrosz, Co-founder of Tempus Novo, said: “What we do works and we have proof of that. Now we need the funds to take it to the next level, change more lives, help empty prisons and grow the economy – all while saving the taxpayer millions.
“The money we could actually save the country with £1 million of Government funding is nearer £51.26 million, but the Government says around 50% of ex-offenders are likely to stay out of prison – so we always halve our projections. But in reality, it’s likely to be much more than £25.63 million saved for the public purse that can be reinvested in key services.”
Steve Freer, Co-founder of Tempus Novo, added: “The investment we need is very low risk, with massive potential to change lives. Not just the lives of the ex-offenders, who we call graduates, but their families and relatives. It’s about breaking the cycle of criminality and giving them a new start – a second chance. It’s been said that poverty is the mother of crime, so if we can help people into long-term employment and a wage in their back pocket, we can reduce re-offending exponentially.”
Steve and Val met while working in Armley jail – one of the most overcrowded in the country – and the number of people they have already helped is equivalent to the capacity of the prison.
Combining their 60 years of experience with their direct links into the British prison system, the duo founded this unique charity with a mission to make a real difference.
For more see www.tempusnovo.org
Ends.
Notes to editors:
For media enquiries and interviews contact Graham Poucher on graham@poucherpr.co.uk or 07587 180005.
Stats
Cost to keep someone in prison is around £46,600 according to Prison Reform Trust: https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/prison_the_facts_2023.pdf
Estimated £45,000 per annum per Tempus Novo caseworker including all costs
See infographic below for more details
