Forward Trust- First Social Impact Report; Essential Reading!

 

Forward Trust celebrated their first birthday as ‘Forward’ (following the merger of RAPt and Blue Sky) at an event in HMP Downview, where the prisoner’s charity began in 1992. Talking with Mike Trace, CEO; David Bernstein, Chair of Trustees; Revd John Wates, Trustee; and Frank Quinn, the first ever graduate of the RAPt 12 Steps Programme of drug and alcohol recovery (and a very powerful speaker indeed), I was left in no doubt that this charity is achieving real results by supporting individuals to make their own decisions to change. They have the added bonus of this set of researched results to prove it! But what about these few selected statistics regarding the users of Forward Trust services, taken from many in the report;

On average, each person has 22 previous convictions

1 in 10 are women offenders who often have complex needs and have experienced trauma

Over half left school before 16

63% are parents, and of those 84% don’t live with their children

1 in 3 have mental problems

Over 50% of prisoners have a history of drug or alcohol problems

50% REPORT THAT THEY WILL BE HOMELESS ON RELEASE

75% OF PRISONERS ARE RELEASED WITHOUT A JOB TO GO TO

 

PLEASE HELP IN WHATEVER WAYS YOU CAN