The RFA has been founded by rail industry stalwart Chris Leech, who said the UK’s reoffending rates are among the highest in the developed world, with one in two people released after short sentences offending again within 12 months.
Graham said: “Prisons are at breaking point, and when people do leave jail, 50% of individuals within the first 12 months fall back into the vicious circle of criminality and unemployment.
It said the initiative will also help tackle the workforce shortage in the sector, citing research that 90,000 people will leave the rail industry due to retirement and other reasons over the next five years.
Award-winning actor Stephen Graham is backing a new initiative aimed at helping ex-offenders get jobs in the transport industry, saying it is vital to break the “vicious circle of criminality and unemployment”.
The Rebuilding Futures Alliance (RFA) is a not-for-profit organisation which has been launched to offer former inmates the chance to learn a skilled trade in the rail, bus and other transport sectors.
