Bike and barbers scheme reduces prison leaver reoffending

The founder of a charity that trains prison leavers with skills they can use to secure a job said the scheme had reduced reoffending rates and helped people feel as though they were part of society again.

"Most people in prison are not bad, they have just made bad choices. I have certainly made those, most of us have," said Stef Jones.

Onwards and Upwards' projects include XO Bikes and XO Barbers, which offer training to become bike mechanics and barbers respectively.

Jones said: "We have trained 186 bike mechanics, of which 102 should technically be back inside, based on a 55% reoffending rate. Four have been back to prison. That is a 2% reoffending rate, versus 55%."

In London in the year leading up to March 2024, 17% of prison leavers were employed six weeks after leaving jail, slightly below the national average.

In a survey last year, one in five UK employers said they would immediately reject a candidate with a criminal conviction.

Jones said employers who chose not to hire someone with a criminal record were "misguided".

He said that instead of lobbying businesses to change their position, he decided to prove that hiring prison leavers could be positive.

XO Bikes trains people to become professional bicycle mechanics by refurbishing donated cycles while XO Barbers trains prisoners inside HMP Brixton and has a barbershop open to the public on Blackfriars Road, Southwark.

"These are deliberately public-facing jobs. That's what changes society," Jones said.

Jae Walters began cutting fellow inmates' hair and is now working for XO Barbers.

"It's a pleasure being here and starting a career in this place. It has given me the opportunity to move forward," he said.

"This has given me the platform to be somebody that I want to be in the future. All I can do is thank the people here."

Graeme Shepherd, who took part in the XO Bikes training in south-east London, said: "It's given me the confidence that I can move on, and not go back to crime."

Trevelyan Shonubi, assistant trainer on the XO Bikes course, said his job brought him security after he left prison.

"I'm just happy I've got the opportunity to give back to people who have been through the same situation," he said. "If I wasn't doing this, I cannot say what else I would be doing."

Jason Koku, assistant manager of the XO Bikes Lewisham branch, said it was a "lovely thing" to have a routine and feel part of society again.

He said he had spent about five years in prison "on and off" for various crimes.

"Once you've been marked [by prison] it's hard to get through the door anywhere," he said.

Koku said without the XO Bikes scheme, he would "probably either be dead, or doing life in prison".

"I've turned my life around in a big way," he said. "My old life, I was part of the streets, drug dealing, and it's only going to lead to one thing or the other.

"Anything is possible," he added.

"Routine is key to break out of your old lifestyle. You've got to put a lot in to get something out."

Many other charities support ex-prisoners into employment, including the King's Trust and Nacro.

Additional reporting by Luxmy Gopal and Jess Warren

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