Media to re-engage

Yesterday's article 'Inside Sell Blocks' in the Guardian Society raised some interesting and challenging questions about the nature of prisoners' relationship to employment. The movement from worklessness into sustained employment can be challenging for this group not least due to the significant experience and skills barriers faced. For work schemes designed to increase the chances of employment on release, addressing the various and numerous barriers to employment is key. Building on fundamental factors such as an increased sense of satisfaction, achievement and ownership through work result in increased confidence and motivation. This plays a crucial part in encouraging independence and the effective transition to meaningful employment. Aside from the factory production lines referenced in the article, there exist numerous smaller schemes which operate across the wider third sector to provide individuals with a more engaging introduction to the world of work.

The IJP training scheme aims to build the foundation on which such a transition can be made by engaging individuals with contemporary subject matter in a fresh a creative environment. Today media permeates more areas of society than ever, representing and serving us based on any number of facets through which we identify ourselves. Whether through political motivations, cultural background, taste in music or viewing preferences, there exists a plethora of channels out there through which expression, information and connection can be sought. For trainees exposed to the various aspects of working in a thriving media company, getting hands-on experience in a sector that is both dynamic, involving and which typically overcomes the isolation of circumstance, can be the first step to their engagement with working life.

Louise Brown, Marketing & Communications Manager, Inside Job Productions