This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Working Chance | |
|---|---|
| Name | Working Chance |
| Formation | 1988 |
| Type | Charity; social enterprise |
| Purpose | Employment support for women with criminal convictions |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Region served | United Kingdom |
Working Chance is a London-based charity and social enterprise that supports women with criminal convictions into employment. It provides specialist recruitment services, coaching, and employer engagement to address barriers faced by women leaving custody or living with criminal records. The organisation operates within the context of UK criminal justice reform, employment law, and social policy affecting women in cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.
Working Chance was founded in 1988 amid shifts in UK penal policy and the expansion of non-governmental actors such as Barnardo's, Shelter, and The Prince's Trust addressing social exclusion. Early activity intersected with initiatives like the Criminal Justice Act 1991 reforms and campaigns by groups including Howard League for Penal Reform and Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Over decades the organisation evolved alongside entities such as Clinks, Nacro, St Mungo's, and Prison Reform Trust, responding to changes prompted by inquiries like the Lammy Review and reports from the Ministry of Justice. Working Chance’s trajectory has paralleled developments in probation services such as Community Rehabilitation Company reforms, shifts in custodial provision at institutions like HMP Holloway and coordination with bodies including Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.
Working Chance’s mission focuses on reducing reoffending through sustained employment, aligning with policy debates by actors like Department for Work and Pensions and campaigns led by Justice. Its activities include recruitment for employers such as Sainsbury's, Costa Coffee, and Marks & Spencer as well as collaboration with sector employers like Capita and Serco. The organisation engages with training providers such as City & Guilds, welfare initiatives like Universal Credit, and referral networks including Jobcentre Plus and charities like Turning Point and Change Grow Live. Working Chance situates its work alongside academic research from institutions such as King's College London, University of Oxford, University College London, and University of Cambridge investigating desistance, recidivism, and labour market reintegration.
Programs combine recruitment, coaching, and employer engagement with tailored support for subsets of women impacted by the criminal justice system. Services connect clients with vocational pathways influenced by frameworks from City, University of London and professional accreditation from bodies such as Institute of Leadership & Management. They work with prison education providers including Novus and charities like NEP (New Education Project), and liaise with stakeholders such as Community Rehabilitation Companies and local authorities like Greater London Authority. Employment sectors targeted include retail chains like Tesco and Waitrose, hospitality groups such as Whitbread, and social enterprises like The Big Issue. Complementary services reference evidence from research centres including Institute for Fiscal Studies, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and London School of Economics.
Impact assessments cite reductions in reoffending risk and improved employment rates comparable to evaluations by Ministry of Justice and independent researchers from What Works Centre for Crime Reduction and National Audit Office. Outcomes are tracked against benchmarks used by funders such as Big Lottery Fund and performance frameworks employed by commissioners like NHS England for health-related resettlement assistance. Working Chance’s client outcomes are discussed in reports alongside longitudinal studies from Centre for Social Justice and analyses by think tanks such as Institute for Public Policy Research and Policy Exchange examining gender-specific offending trajectories identified in the Lammy Review and research by the Prison Reform Trust.
Funding streams include grants and contracts from bodies such as Big Lottery Fund, Trust for London, Comic Relief, and local commissioning from entities like London Councils. Social investment partners have included impact investors and funds associated with institutions such as Big Society Capital and philanthropic foundations like Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Barrow Cadbury Trust. Governance structures mirror charity governance best practice used by organisations including Charity Commission for England and Wales guidance; trustees have included leaders drawn from the nonprofit and corporate sectors similar to boards at Shelter and Barnardo's. Financial oversight and audit practices align with standards used by auditors like Grant Thornton and PwC for third-sector organisations.
Working Chance partners with a wide network of employers, prison services, voluntary organisations, and academic institutions. Strategic partners include private sector employers such as John Lewis Partnership, Pret A Manger, and Royal Bank of Scotland; voluntary partners like St Giles Trust, Women in Prison, and Refuge; and academic collaborators including Goldsmiths, University of London and University of Manchester. Advocacy work engages parliamentary stakeholders such as members from the Justice Select Committee and cross-party groups addressing criminal justice and female offending. Campaign alliances have included coalitions with Ending Violence Against Women Coalition and policy groups like Centre for Social Justice to influence statutory guidance and employer practice related to disclosure of criminal records under frameworks administered by Disclosure and Barring Service.
Category:Charities based in London Category:Criminal justice reform in the United Kingdom