Amey’s Journey to Work programme is successfully helping prison leavers, the long-term unemployed, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, transition into employment.
The nationwide reintegration initiative has helped nearly a dozen prison leavers secure jobs with Amey and its supply chain in the last 12 months. The programme supports individuals during the last three months of their sentence, providing employability skills training, CV writing workshops, interview preparation, and release-ready support.
Amey said the programme helped to ensure that they are equipped to apply for live vacancies across its built estate, highways, and rail contracts, as well as roles within its supply chain.
As a result of this and other inclusive hiring initiatives, 14% of Amey’s new recruits in 2024 came from individuals facing barriers to employment. With reoffending costing the UK Government £18 billion annually, research shows that securing employment within six weeks of release significantly reduces reoffending rates, the firm said.
Delivered across 10 UK prisons, Amey’s programme has already benefited 196 prisoners, equipping them with essential skills and increasing their chances of successful reintegration into the workforce. At its latest event at HMP New Hall, Yorkshire, Amey collaborated with the prison’s Employment Advisory Board and Employment Hub to offer two female offenders employment on release.
Evie Rollinson, Prison Employment Lead at HMP New Hall, says:
“We have worked with Amey for over 12 months, and the professional relationship is developing from strength to strength. It’s great to see their commitment to working with prison leavers.”
Stephanie Johnson, People Director at Amey, says:
“As a facilities management partner to the Ministry of Justice across 64 prisons, we have a unique opportunity to work intensively with prisoners and support them into employment while they are serving their sentences.
“The FM sector is increasingly facing a need for specialised skills to ensure vital public services can continue to operate. There is also a growing need to redefine the skills required to tackle emerging challenges such as decarbonisation and climate resilience. For Amey providing second chances is pivotal to creating a workforce with the ability to meet this challenge, while delivering social good.”
The Journey to Work scheme also runs alongside other Amey initiatives such as Amey’s Clean, Rehabilitative, Enabling, Decent (CRED) programme which launched in 2018. The CRED programme aims to rehabilitate by providing prisoners with meaningful activity and work experience focused on painting and decorating, stores, groundworks and general maintenance of their living spaces.
