The 2021 Prisons Strategy White Paper estimated the annual cost of reoffending in England and Wales at £18 billion. Reoffending rates fluctuate between 24.7% and 31.8%, but people who participate in prison education are 7.5% less likely to reoffend (Education Select Committee report on prison education, May 2022) and are more likely to secure a job on leaving prison.
Fishmongers gave Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET), which operates in 121 prisons in England and Wales, a three-year grant to make their learning materials available on digital platforms in prisons. These materials include free short courses to help people in prison develop study skills as well as full distance learning courses. Pwyll ap Stifin, PET’s Digital Officer, commented:
‘As digital access in prisons grows, it is vital that a range of learning opportunities is made available on prison digital platforms’
As a result of the work funded by Fishmongers, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has given PET additional funding to expand their work in this area.
Find out more about PET, including volunteering opportunities, here.
© The Fishmongers’ Company 2024
