The grant of £3,500 from the Metropolitan Masonic Charity to Keepout the first ever crime diversion scheme to be delivered by dedicated teams of serving prisoners – managed by civilian staff at HMP Brixton, Coldingley and Send with the message ‘learn from our mistakes’. With two main objectives, the prevention of crime amongst young people and the rehabilitation of offenders.

Prisoners are trained to run intervention workshops from within the prison, delivered to visiting groups of young people. These inform, support and divert those between 13 and 17 who are either at risk of entering the criminal justice system or are already involved in criminal activity. They also help the rehabilitation of serving prisoners. Prisoners experience an opportunity to break the cycle of offending and give back to society. Benefits include interpersonal skills as well as a BTEC qualification aiding employment upon release, it provides direction in life for the first time.

James Marlow, Fundraising Officer for KeepOut said “we are extremely grateful to the London Masons for their tremendous support of our work, enabling us to work with hundreds of young people in need of our help. During 2017, we will make 2,000 places available on our schemes for young people in desperate need of support and guidance.”