Rehabilitation and reducing reoffending are at the core of everything we do across Sodexo’s prisons. Our two-year 'Reducing Reoffending' strategy focuses on clear, tangible outcomes that will be visible to prisoners, their families, and our staff. Everyone has a role in helping us change lives for the better.

The strategy is built around three key principles:

1. People
   We focus on creating safe environments where staff can work effectively and prisoners can engage in meaningful rehabilitation.
2. Partnerships
   Rehabilitation requires collaboration. We work closely with Probation services, HMPPS, throughcare providers in Scotland, and education, skills, and work partners in England to support prisoners' reintegration.
3. Progression
   We prioritize involving families and significant others in the rehabilitation process and offer tailored support for specific groups like care leavers, mothers in custody, and veterans.

Reducing Reoffending: The Seven Pathways

Reducing reoffending means addressing key, often interconnected areas of an individual’s life. Across our Sodexo prisons, we focus on seven key pathways to support rehabilitation and safe reintegration into the community:

1. Accommodation:
   Safe, secure, stable housing is essential for community reintegration and reducing and individuals’ likelihood of reoffending. We work with Probation and Local Authorities to support referrals into housing pathways.
2. Attitudes, Thinking & Behaviour:
   We promote pro-social behaviour through staff modelling and a range of accredited and non-accredited interventions.
3. Children & Family:
   Family and significant others are crucial. We embed family services and specialised family interventions through targeted interventions and activities.
4. Drugs & Alcohol:
   We work with healthcare partners to address substance misuse through specialist interventions.
5. Education, Training & Employment:
   We offer meaningful activity, education and training varied learning and work opportunities, plus initiatives like Starting Fresh to support employment after release.
6. Finance, Benefit & Debt:
   We provide financial guidance and support through dedicated advisors and Job Centre partnerships to reduce financial stress.
7. Health:
   We ensure prisoners can access vital healthcare through strong partnerships with local health providers.

A wide range of training is available across the prison, which provides learning and skills in a range of activities covering literacy, numeracy and IT as well as vocational training in a range of trades within industrial workshops. 

High quality training that enables the prisoner to do their job effectively and also recognises and accredits the skills that they have learnt and developed is a crucial component part of the working prison model.

Improved employment opportunities on release and reduced re-offending

Providing work for prisoners at HMP Altcourse contributes towards the prison's focus on providing a real working environment.  This will help improve offenders’ skills and experiences to ultimately lead to improved employment opportunities on release and reduced re-offending.

As part of our Corporate Social Impact commitments for every shift that prisoners work additional funds are generated for community reparation to help provide additional support for victims and improved resettlement services.