When I was in prison, I had two jobs. The first I sewed together 200 boxer shorts every day. The second I peer mentored people like me serving a sentence. The best I got paid was £15 a week which was mainly spent on calling my loved ones from the prison phone.
I wanted to ensure people have an amazing place to work so our colleagues get the support they need to support other people coming through the criminal justice system to access all the right opportunities in life.
I love that we now employ so many amazing colleagues, many of whom have also been through the criminal justice system, and that we’re able to provide them with so many benefits including:
 | Unlimited Annual Leave |
 | A minimum payment in line with the Living Wage Foundation |
 | Perkbox which includes cinema tickets, gym memberships and discounts off weekly shopping and bills |
 | Life cover that will pay 3x our colleague's salary to their family in the event of their death |
 | Counselling for all areas of their life as we can't leave 'home at home' we're all humans who need help from time to time |
 | 24/7 access to an online GP for our colleagues and their immediate family |
 | Salary advances when times get a little tight. We know they're good for it! |
These benefits are great but the greatest perk of working (in my opinion)… is to be a part of this incredibly supportive and driven culture. I am pretty confident I could pick up a phone to any of our team and let them know if I’m struggling.
This is not usual for smaller/social/ public organisations to be able invest so much in their colleague package; yet we made this a priority over distributing profits because we are nothing without our team. Why would we not invest in such a dedicated bunch?
I really hope that if you’re reading this, you will consider joining #TeamOffploy.
- Jacob Hill, Managing Director