Christmas fundraising campaign offers employment support for ex-offenders

As Christmas approaches, we’re delighted to be supporting a local charity working hard to place ex-offenders into paid work.

The Recruitment Junction is the only non-profit recruiter in the North East to connect candidates with convictions with local employers.

Double donations

The Recruitment Junction has been chosen to be a part of The Big Give’s matched giving Christmas Challenge campaign, which takes place midday Tues 30 November – midday Tues 7 December. And thanks to a generous pledge from the Watson Family Charitable Trust, donations made during this week will be doubled, as long as matched funding is available.

A strong support system

The charity not only helps candidates find meaningful paid employment, but they also help them overcome additional barriers to starting and sustaining that work. This could be anxiety about walking onto site on their first day, travelling to work before they receive their first week’s pay or sourcing vital right to work documents like birth certificates.

They also help candidates secure necessary vocational certificates and qualifications needed to start the job and support them in finding new affordable home as they start work (often prison-leavers are placed into “supported accommodation”, where the rent becomes unaffordable as soon as the candidate starts work).

One donation, twice the impact

This Christmas The Recruitment Junction is seeking to set up a hardship fund to support these vital additional services which includes.

• £5 enables The Recruitment Junction to meet with a candidate for a coffee and breakfast on their first day, to help settle nerves and get them across the line.
• £11 is the cost of a birth certificate needed as proof of a candidate’s right to work.
• £23 covers the cost of a travel card for a candidate to get to work during their first week before they get paid.
• £50 provides a much needed ‘new home pack’ (food, toiletries, cleaning products) for a candidate who needs to move home quickly, in order to start work.
• £99 helps a candidate obtain or renew their Health & Safety site safety card, without which labourers and tradespeople cannot legally work on a construction site.

You can visit their Big Give page here to find out more and join us in supporting this vital work. And don’t forget – any money you donate will be doubled by the Watson Family Charitable Trust.