Suffolk-based Seasonings business kicks off social enterprise programme
Easy Peasy Cooking, a Seasonings company based in Ipswich, Suffolk, which sells pre-mixed Recipe Kits for tasty and healthy meals, has launched a new social enterprise programme, ‘Thyme for Work’.
Creating a workshop facility in HMP New Hall women’s prison in Wakefield, called the ‘Inspiration Academy’ the workshop is the blending, packaging, storage and shipping base for a wider social enterprise programme designed to reduce re-offending through employment. Inspiration Recipe Kits packaged in the prison provide training and work opportunities for 15-20 prisoners during their sentence, and then for the prisoners on their final release.
The focus of the training and work experience programme is to better equip current and ex-offenders to find jobs and support themselves in an environment that’s often not very welcoming of checkered employee histories.
“We’ve all made mistakes in our lives, and will continue to make them,” says Ian Bacon, Managing Director of Easy Peasy Cooking (Suffolk) Limited, and also the founder of the Thyme for Work programme. “We’re often, in the main, given more chances. But it’s a different story for ex-offenders, even for those who intend to ‘go straight’. With very few work opportunities, life can be extremely hard back on the outside.”
For many who have been in prison in the past, they find it hard to get and retain jobs as employers often discriminate against them and are unlikely to give them a second chance.
Ian added: “This programme aims to create opportunities for prisoners and ex-offenders to get paid work, and also aims to help them acquire skills and qualifications - those extra-special ingredients that can lead to better employment upon release from prison.”
ENDS
About the company:
Easy Peasy Cooking (Suffolk) Limited started off in January 2016, as a way for busy people to still find time and ways to cook healthy and tasty meals for themselves. Recognised by Theo Paphitis (ex Dragons Den) receiving a Small Business Award, the company has recently received accreditation as a Social Enterprise Business.
Interested parties can find out more about the programme at https://www.thymeforwork.com, information about the company at http://www.easypeasycooking.co.uk or simply contact managing director Ian Bacon on his direct number at 07527 538442.