What it's all about

Before coming to Nottingham Trent, I got a job in the Prison Service through a temp agency, at H.M.P. Doncaster, my local jail. It involved working alongside prisoners convicted of various offences, instructing them in collecting shopping orders for the prison population, and supervising their bagging duties. Being from a legal background, (I hold a degree in Law from the University of Sheffield, and am currently studying the Bar Vocational Course) I decided that a good thing to do with my time there would be to do some voluntary work through the resettlement department.

I independantly created a presentation on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and delivered it a total of three times whilst there. The Act is the area of law which governs how long a person convicted of a criminal offence has to disclose this for, following the date of conviction. It is particularly relevant to the filling in of job applications, and very worthy of the attention of my target audience.

It is important that these men are made aware of the implications of the Act, since non-disclosure of a criminal coviction on a job application can lead to being sacked, or prosecution. Since finding a job after leaving prison has a huge effect on re-offending rates, it's value cannot be understated. Every prisoner I have spoke to in the course of doing this work, has had little or no knowledge of the Act at all.

Since coming to Nottingham Trent, I have sought to expand this project through the Pro Bono project, and have marketed the idea to fellow student barristers and solicitors with marked success. Since doing this, I have given two further presentations at H.M.P. Ashwell and H.M.P. Ranby. I would like to turn this into a regular occurrence, and take it nationwide.

What's needed to make it a reality