The Skills Builder Partnership works with employers, education institutions and impact organisations to ensure that one day, everyone builds the essential skills they need to succeed. The impact organisations team brings together 250+ impact organisation partners from focus areas such as Employability, Sports, STEM, Arts & Culture, Volunteering and more recently, the Criminal Justice Sector (CJS).
Our work with partners in the CJS has focused on ensuring people who are experiencing the system access meaningful opportunities to develop the essential skills needed to integrate back into society. Skills such as these are an area that has been recently prioritised by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and identified as a significant concern by Ofsted in their annual report on prison education.
From working with partners, we address this educational inequality that leads individuals to the ‘skills trap’, where a lack of advantage and opportunity can lead to a perpetually lower trajectory of personal and professional success in life.
After working in partnership with Entrepreneurs Unlocked and Barton Moss Secure Children's Home, in 2024 we have further developed our work within the CJS by forming a criminal justice cluster. This blog explores the impact we are striving to achieve through this cluster and aspiration for expanding our work within the space.
We work with partners to help them to make the most of the Skills Builder approach in their programme design, impact measurement, and staff training, and demonstrate this by working towards an Impact Level accreditation. By achieving Impact Level accreditation, our partners proudly demonstrate their commitment to driving measurable, sustainable change through the development of essential skills.
Who are StandOut?
StandOut supports people leaving prison by empowering them to build positive futures and break the cycle of reoffending. Their work focuses on tailored, long-term support, fostering resilience and employability through a strengths-based approach. Founded in 2017, StandOut operates in several UK prisons, equipping participants with skills and confidence to reintegrate into society. Guided by values of courage, commitment, and connection, they champion meaningful change through person-centred programmes and strong partnerships. During the programme, participants develop a relationship with StandOut, which forms the foundations of their work with them after prison. Each journey is individual, and StandOut provides one-to-one coaching and support. For the people they work with, StandOut’s coaches become trusted partners who help them navigate the challenges of life after prison.
What did they do?
StandOut joined the Skills Builder Impact Academy, a cohort-based programme that empowers small, impact-led organisations to increase their impact through embedding the essential skills into their provision. By participating, StandOut gained access to a blend of expert-led training, personalised 1:1 support, and networking opportunities to work towards Impact Level accreditation and be featured on the Impact Directory. Impact Levels are an opportunity for organisations to measure their impact and demonstrate best practice in essential skills development, and through their participation in the Impact Academy, StandOut’s pre-release programme has been accredited with an Impact Level 4: progressing in essential skills.
The StandOut pre-release programme
The StandOut pre-release programme equips individuals preparing for release from prison with essential life and employability skills to support successful reintegration and reduce reoffending. Targeting barriers faced by those exiting the justice system, the programme strengthens essential skills like Listening, Speaking, and Teamwork through structured activities, enabling participants to develop skills they can immediately apply in real-world contexts. This approach builds confidence and prepares them for both personal and professional success post-release.
Participants begin the programme by completing an assessment based on Skills Builder’s self-assessment platform, Benchmark, to identify their strengths and key areas for development. Over three weeks, they engage in practical exercises designed to build essential skills, confidence, and resilience. Each activity focuses on specific steps for skill development, ensuring participants stay engaged and make meaningful progress toward their goals. Then, at the end of the course, they self-assess again to measure and demonstrate their progress in the essential skills.
“At StandOut we have always sought to provide opportunities for our participants to develop the key skills needed to thrive. We have found this content has sat perfectly alongside our focus on developing the right mindset and preparing for release from prison. However, we struggled to find a tool that complimented our approach and enhanced our offer. Skills Builder has done both these things. We now have a tool that is intuitive, for both coaches and the men we work with. It clearly unpacks what is required to develop each skill, enables individuals to feel confident about their strengths and areas for development and crucially, within a varied group, enables bespoke goal setting for each participant. This facilitates growth for everyone and enables people to talk confidently about these key transferable skills, in both personal and professional contexts.”
- Jo Fellows, Co-Founder and Programme Director
Get involved
The Skills Builder Impact Academy is now accepting applications for Spring 2025, and we would love to help you start your journey towards essential skills success.
- Gain professional development and networking opportunities
- Hone, enhance and measure your impact
- Earn an Impact Level accreditation
Click here to find out more about the programme and apply today.
About the author:
Connor Llewellyn is a Senior Impact Organisations Associate who leads on the Skills Builder Impact Academy programme. Over the last two years he has focussed on equipping smaller, grassroots organisations with the training and expertise needed to hone, measure and enhance the development of essential skills in their provision.
