The Oswin Project offers second chances to people through mentoring, training and employment. Funding provided by the Company supported ‘Growing Out’, a Market Garden in the grounds of HMP Northumberland, a three-acre site including polytunnels, greenhouses and a well-stocked orchard, which provides training and practical work experience for 24 prisoners to learn horticultural skills and (for some) work towards a Level 2 Principles of Plant Growth and Development.
Key Achievements:
- Over the 12-month funding period ‘Growing Out’ provided mentoring, training and work placements to 24 prisoners.
- 21 prisoners engaged with ‘Growing Out’ (around 84%) have received mentoring and the teaching outlined above; three individuals have completed Level 2 RHS Principles of Plant Growth and Propagation (distance learning); two prisoners will have completed the Level 2 RHS qualification in the coming spring growing season; and one prisoner has started module 1 of the same qualification with one in the early stages of the course.
- 4 prisoners Released on Temporary Licence have worked in the Farm Shop .
- 6 individuals have engaged with volunteering.
- One individual has joined the ‘Inside and Out’ team (‘Inside and Out’ provides landscaping, forestry, building and maintenance work on rural estates in Northumberland).
- None of the prisoners who worked in the Market Garden over the past 12 months and who have now been released have reoffended.
