A DORSET charity helping prisoners’ rehabilitation has received nearly £28,000 in funding.

The Footprints Project, based in Dorchester, will now be able to create a social enterprise led by ex-offenders thanks to its award of £27,900, from a £2.5m pot set up by Natwest.

The charity is one of six not-for-profit groups around the South West to have received a share of NatWest’s Skills and Opportunities Fund. The winners were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants nationwide.

The bank’s fund aims to support projects in disadvantaged communities that help people to help themselves by learning new skills, getting into the world of work or setting up their own business, and it will share £2.5 million this year.

The aim of the Footprints Project is to reduce the risk of re-offending by offering a volunteer mentor service to those leaving prison or serving sentences in the community.

Project organisers say the funding will be used to create a sustainable social enterprise led by ex-offenders, building on the success of a recent informal project where 30 ex-offenders donated more than 2,000 voluntary hours to refurbish a community building.

Chief executive Jane Barkes said: “This project has been running as an informal pilot for the past couple of years, helping ex-offenders gain the skills they will need in the workplace. The Footprints Project is already mentoring ex-offenders and the funding will support this ongoing work as well as helping us to develop the pilot skills project into a new social enterprise.

“We have already seen some participants in the pilot go on into formal training and employment, and now we will be able to offer enormous opportunities to even more people.”

The winning South West organisations were chosen from a shortlist of 13 by a panel of judges from NatWest’s South West and Wales Regional Board, along with a public vote which counted as one vote.

Board chairman Haydn Thomas said: “It was a challenging decision because of the standard of entries we received. But the panel liked the fact that there were people already committed to this project and we felt the project offered good skills development opportunities in practical areas. We are pleased to be able to support the charity to help ex-offenders to turn their lives around.

“Our congratulations and best wishes for the social enterprise go to The Footprints Project, and I’d encourage anyone who wasn’t successful this time to try again when applications open for the next round.”

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