Somerset charity Key4Life urges firms to employ ex-offenders

Saje says he wants to be given the chance to show he is a different person now

A charity has called for employers to give ex-offenders jobs by "seeing the decent bloke in front of them" rather than judging by their criminal past.

Somerset-based Key4Life helps teach emotional and behavioural skills through equine therapy, interview skills and mentoring.

Its founder Eva Hamilton said: "Most people don't want to touch [ex-offenders] with a barge pole."

The Ministry of Justice says getting a job can reduce re-offending by a third.

Key4Life was set up seven years ago and runs programmes in Bristol, Somerset and London.

It works at prisons and young offenders institutions in Ashfield, Isis, Portland, Wormwood Scrubs, Guys Marsh and Brixton.

'Break the cycle'

Ms Hamilton added: "When they meet our young men everything changes because the perception of that person they thought was really nasty is actually a really decent bloke in front of me."

Of the 251 men the charity has helped, 160 were in jobs a year after their release.

One former offender, Saje, told the BBC: "I've spent most of life in and out jail, on probation [but] I'm at a stage where I want to do better with my life and leave all that behind, break the cycle and move on from what I did, as I'm no longer that person."

According to the Department of Work and Pensions, half of all employers say they would not consider hiring an ex-offender.

Dairy farmer Arthur Crutchley is one of the employers supporting the charity's project.

He said: "It's really about giving them a chance, because I know from the guys we've had they're desperate to prove themselves."