OUR MISSION IS TO REDUCE RE-OFFENDING AND GIVE EX-OFFENDERS A NEW START IN LIFE
"To the Sheriffs' & Recorder's Fund: Thank you for the 40 pound Primark voucher which I brought a new warm set of clothing e.g jumper, shirt, jeans, body warmer, socks and gloves which shall keep me warm and looking presentable. And I will be going with N to buy a pair of shoes and some household items with the 60 pound left. Thanking you once again. Your grant has made a big difference." So wrote P, just released from prison with no decent clothes and a discharge grant of only £ 46.75 (unchanged since 1997).
WHAT THE SHERIFFS' & RECORDER'S FUND DOES
For more than two hundred years, the Sheriffs' & Recorder's Fund has helped ex-prisoners such as P to get a new start in life, and has relieved hardship for the families of serving offenders. The Fund gives small, practical and timely grants to ex-offenders in Greater London, and to their families, for training, tools of trade, clothing and household equipment. In 2011 the Fund gave £ 123,000 to more than 1,040 Londoners.
A recent independent evaluation for the Sheriffs' and Recorder's Fund said two out of three Probation Officers questioned believe the Fund's grants reduce the risk of re-offending. Prisoners receive little sympathy or understanding, yet many of the people who end up in court and then prison, live without the ordinary support systems that underpin most people's lives: a decent education; a job; a stable family and a home. All the evidence shows that these things are the keys to a law-abiding life. The S&R Fund helps ex-offenders to achieve them.
DID YOU KNOW ?
- Nearly half those in prison have no qualifications at alL.
- Women recently released from prison are 36 times more likely than the general population to take their own life.
- There are 160,000 children with a parent in prison each year.
- 15% of offenders were homeless prior to custody.
- 71% of offenders reported using drugs in the year before custody.
- 30% of people released from prison will have nowhere to live.
- 42% of prisoners had been expelled or permanently excluded from school.
- During their sentence 45% of people lose contact with their families, and many separate from their partners.
- 10% of men and 30% of women have had a previous psychiatric admission before they came into prison.
- 58% of women and 53% of men in prison identified unemployment and lack of skills as problems contributing to their offending.
- 97% of offenders expressed a desire to stop offending.
The Fund depends on the continuing generosity of individuals and institutions. Please help.
The average grant made by the Sheriffs' & Recorder's Fund is under £ 200. A small sum; but it can and often does turn a life around altogether.
"This indeed a charity where even a little practical help at the right time can make the difference between failure and success - and alter the direction of a life."P.D. James.
"Thank you very much! Some dignity restored to Mr F. J!" A Probation Officer.
"I have requested money from the Sheriffs' & Recorder's Fund for numerous offenders in the community and I am able to see the positive changes that the grants make to their lives." An Employment, Training and Education Advisor.
HOW THE FUND WORKS
The Probation Service and other Social Welfare agencies recommend people for grants, mainly in the first weeks after release when ex-prisoners are at most risk of re-offending. The Sheriffs' and Recorder's Fund evaluates and decides on which grants to award. The recommending Service is then responsible for disbursing the money in the way it was intended. Staffing: Two part-time administrative staff and a voluntary chairman.
To apply for a grant , please write for an application form to : Contacts us