Onwards & Upwards

Each year around 60,000 men leave prison and 48% will reoffend before the year is out. Why? Because when they apply for jobs they are met with a wall of mistrust. 75% of employers will not hire an ex offender. This needs to change otherwise, aside from the waste of human lives, reoffending will continue to cost the tax payer £18bn a year. Onwards & Upwards was created to do just that. Start businesses specifically to employ ex offenders. We are not a business with a purpose though. We are a purpose with a business. Our purpose is to break the cycle of reoffending, and our first business is XO Bikes. As with all of our businesses, XO Bikes will be sustainable, with the profits funding the charity to create more businesses, employing more ex offenders. We provide training on the inside, jobs on the outside and pastoral support on all sides. By creating trusted brands and respected businesses we believe we can destigmatise those with a custodial past, and change recruitment attitudes towards prison leavers. Not every offence should carry a life sentence.