blue sky development

Blue Sky changes lives in the most fundamental way imaginable and the lives that it changes are those whom society has, in large measure, given up on ex-offenders. With a mission to reduce re-offending and challenge negative perceptions about people with a criminal record, Blue Sky wins commercial work and offers the resulting jobs solely to ex-offenders. Giving someone a job has been described as the greatest charity that anyone can perform and it can reduce re-offending by up to 50%. Despite this, approximately 75% of prisoners are released to unemployment resulting in astonishingly high re-offending rates. In response, Blue Sky was set up to offer 6-month employment contracts to ex-offenders and a tailored package of support comprised of training, housing support, mentoring and onward jobs brokering. It is an approach that works since 2005, we have given jobs to over 1,500 ex-offenders. Of our leavers 51% have left with training qualifications, 48% have moved into permanent employment and on average only 15% have re-offended, a quarter of the national average. Find out more here: www.blueskydevelopment.co.uk