Why should your company support St Giles Trust?
The annual costs of re-offending are estimated to be around £11billion each year.  This doesn’t take into account the human costs such as trauma caused to the victims, the effects on children and their families when someone goes into prison and the way crime blights our communities.  At St Giles Trust, we believe that this negative cycle of crime, custody and re-offending is unacceptable and that we have a solution which helps to break it.  If your company supports St Giles Trust, they will be playing a direct part in helping some of the most excluded, disengaged members of society resettle and turn their lives around. We believe everyone deserves a second chance and by mobilising the potential for people to change their lives, they become inspiring role models for others looking to do the same.  If you think your company shares this vision, here are just some of the ways you can help us:

Fundraising Challenges and Events
Around a third of our income is raised from voluntary sources and we are extremely grateful to our team of dedicated runners and community fundraisers who tirelessly support our work.  We are always on the lookout for others to join them and take part in events such as the London Marathon 2012, Run to the Beat 2011 and the British 10K 2011. Why not get a team of runners together at your workplace to run for us? If running isn’t to your taste, we have teams who do the 3 Peaks Challenge – a gruelling weekend trek up the UK’s three tallest mountains.  Whatever challenge you are doing, we’d still love to hear from you.  We can offer you tips and support to help you fundraise and keep motivated. It’s a great way of having fun and building team spirit whilst raising vital funds for our work.  Please contact us for more information.

Employment opportunities for ex-offenders
Stable employment significantly reduces the likelihood of re-offending. Around a third of the workforce at St Giles Trust are reformed ex-offenders and we know from our own experiences that someone who has turned their life around and is given the opportunity to prove themself will seize the opportunity and go the extra mile.  We have won the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and believe that this is partly down to our highly motivated ex-offender members of staff who add value and are very committed.  We are keen to forge partnerships with employers to provide employment opportunities for the people we train in prison and in the community.  They are job-ready and skilled.  In return, St Giles Trust can offer support to both our clients and the employer in the early stages of employment. Click here to find out more about employing ex-offenders.  If you are interested in employing one of our clients, please contact us.

Professional Skills Coaching
This is a project run by us which matches our ex-offender staff with volunteer professionals from other companies who engage in a coaching relationship with our staff. The aim of the project is to broaden horizons, offer support, advice and experience.  For many of our ex-offender staff it is their first professional role and they value the coaching offered through the project. We have engaged a good network of professionals on this project from companies such as BT and Barclays Capital.  We are very grateful for the valuable support they give our staff. If you or any of your colleagues are interested in becoming a coach, please contact us for more information.  We offer full training to anyone who wants to become a coach.

Gifts in kind, sponsorship and pro bono support

Like most charities, we aim to keep our overheads as low as possible. We would always value and put to good use gifts in kind such as office equipment, use of venues and free vehicles which we use to carry out pick up people leaving prison. BT kindly lent us the use of the BT Tower and their corporate offices for events and along with the Communication Workers Union they sponsored our animated film The Hard Cell. We have also been very fortunate to benefit from the excellent professional expertise, for example Frontier Economics through Pro Bono Economics carried out a groundbreaking piece of research into our work which helped us become involved in the first ever Social Impact Bond. We would love to hear from you if you think you can help us in any way.

Payroll giving
Payroll giving is exceptionally valuable as it gives us a steady, reliable source of income which helps us plan and deliver our services more effectively.  Ask your employer or contact us for more information.

One off donations and Charity of the Year
We would love to be your Charity of the Year or part of your Christmas Appeal if your company runs these type of campaigns. In return, we’d give you and your colleagues the opportunity to see first hand how your support has benefitted our clients.  Please contact us if you are interested in finding out more.