We caught up with Sasha Simmonds, Head of Social Value at O’Neill & Brennan, to find out how she came to work with HMPPS and how O’Neill & Brennan are supporting more prison leavers into employment.
Building foundations
I started my career working for a local construction recruiter. I constantly pulled my hair out at the fact that the people I had recruited simply wouldn’t turn up to work and were unreliable.
Just as I was thinking whether this was the right job for me, I desperately attended a careers fair to find even one person that would go to work – it was here that someone asked me if I had ever thought about recruiting from prisons.
A few months later I was at HMP Ford, a Category D open prison (not that I knew what that meant at the time) where my HR manager and I toured the whole prison with HMP Ford’s Business and Community Manager. We saw workshop after workshop and an education offer beyond the capabilities of most local colleges – I was gob smacked.
I was amazed to also hear about Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL), which provides opportunities for risk-assessed prisoners to attend work while on temporary release from prison. It’s a game changer for businesses whilst also giving prisoners a sense of purpose and accomplishment!
Constructing Futures
Now, fast forward 7 years.
Here I am at O’Neill & Brennan; a construction employer that works both as a recruiter supplying temporary labour and as a subcontractor that manages packages of work on large construction sites.
We work in partnership with some amazing companies like Wates, Willmott Dixon, Vinci, Barratt Homes and many more to provide ROTL and employment opportunities to countless male and female prisons across the country – including nine of the Category D open male establishments.
To show clients they can recruit reliable people too and close the gap of uncertainty about recruiting from prisons, we deliver ‘Prison engagement, information and myth busting’ sessions to construction companies across the country. In turn, we’re showing prison leavers that the construction industry’s door will always be open to them for employment opportunities.
The tools for success
The team at O’Neill & Brennan have supported my vision to see the benefits of getting reliable labour on site. For some organisations, getting the initial support to work with serving prisoners can be a hurdle, but I’m pleased to say that between 2021 and 2022, O’Neill & Brennan have supported over 250 people from prison into employment, both on ROTL and on release.
As a business this has only supported our growth and our engagements with clients as we have become known as specialists on recruiting people from prison. We are proud to be an inclusive business and strongly believe that employing people leaving prison can help to combat the labour shortage.
Receiving messages on Christmas Day from someone who has served the past 19 years in prison, now released and in work, thanking us for everything we have done to change their life – that’s what I do it for. It has made me passionate to go even further in the support we offer to prisons, and I’m extremely proud to be the Employment Advisory Board Chair for HMPs Dovegate and Send and be a member of the Board at HMP Brixton.
To build on this success, my incredible company has enabled me to embark on the Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship, in partnership with the Worshipful Company of Constructors. I’m using this opportunity to support the female prison estate, working with these individuals to start their careers in construction.
For any employers who are interested in starting their prison engagement journey, my door is always open!
By Sasha Simmonds, Head of Social Value, O’Neill & Brennan