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UK News

New study says ex-convicts welcome in the workplace but Christian charity disagrees

by Alex Collett

According to Christian charity Prison Fellowship, ex-prisoners still struggle to find employment after life behind bars. 

They also find it difficult to find a welcoming church that will help them adapt to life on the outside. 

Despite this, a new poll shows three quarters of UK adults would be comfortable working alongside former prisoners who have passed safeguarding checks.

Commissioned by think-tank the Centre for Social Justice, Opinium found that 85 per cent of Brits would back prison leavers being offered a job upon release.  CEO Peter Holloway from Prison Fellowship, a Christian charity that supports Prisoners across the UK told Premier ex-prisoners find it difficult to adapt after they are released: "I've heard so many stories of people in a jail, crying out to God and saying, God, if you're there, show yourself to me, and he does.

"Then people come to chapel and we have this excitement with them, and help to be with them along this journey as they go along life.

"They carry on with a walk in prison but we also know that when they come out they struggle to find a church to go to and we can help them, with their with their faith walk as they go along the way.

"It's very hard for those in prison to get a job after they come out. 

"It can be really tough, quite often, employment will come up as one of the difficult things, as there is a lot of stigma, a lot of prejudice for people coming out of prison. 

"There are some really big, practical obstacles as well. 

"For example, you might not have a bank account, you might not have somewhere to live.

"So how do you put on the form what your address is? 

"When you come out of prison, you get the belongings that you arrive within a plastic bag, and you walk out of the door and that's all you've got."

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