“A proper job with a proper company”
Blue Sky Development and Regeneration is a social enterprise that employs ex-offenders and offers them a proper job in grounds maintenance and related areas.
Blue Sky’s mission is to help break the cycle of re-offending and achieve long-term benefits for society.
What we are
Blue Sky is a social enterprise, a registered charity and a business reliant on commercial income. Our chosen sector of work is grounds maintenance where we act as sub-contractors to local authorities and their maintenance providers. The more our order book grows, the more jobs we can offer.
Where we are
Our blue uniforms can be seen in the parks and open spaces of Slough, Hounslow, Gloucester, London Borough of Hillingdon, London Borough of Ealing. In partnership with the Groundwork federation, we expect to develop into other areas in future – including Manchester, Bristol and Brighton.
Our purpose
Our purpose is to get ex-offenders into permanent jobs. We do this because
employment has the single greatest impact on an individual’s likelihood
of re-offending. And re-offending costs England and Wales over £11bn
each year*. All too often, a young person emerges from a short time in prison
to a life sentence of unemployment. Neither the financial nor the social
costs of this are acceptable.
The results
Most Blue Sky employees have made good use of this opportunity to make
a fresh start. More than half of those who successfully complete
their Blue Sky contract have moved on to long term employment. You
can read some of their stories here.
*Source: “Reducing Re-Offending by Ex-Prisoners” produced by the Social Exclusion Unit in 2002.