You Press Presents: Voices of Redemption

“Our future is not determined by the mistakes that we make or by the negative labels and stereotypes that are put upon us”.

On 10 October, we invite you to join us for a powerful night of music, poetry and spoken word where you will hear 10 dynamic artists narrate the phenomenal life stories of 10 ex-offenders.

Reoffending by young offenders has become one of the most pressing issues faced by society today. 45.2% of adult prisoners reoffend within one year of being released. For those serving sentences for less than 12 months, this increases to 57.5%. It is now recognized that the record levels of inmates in prison is not helping to reduce crime.

"In order to prevent re-offending, we need to support offenders to change their behaviours and break the cycle of offending." -The Safer Southwark Partnership Rolling Action Plan

The Project:
The Voices of Redemption project uses creative arts to tackle the stigma associated with ex-offenders and provides a platform for this marginalized group to get their voices heard.

During the project we learned that the vast majority of ex-offenders have a complex range of social problems and that there is a link between re-offending and social exclusion. The participants live in areas suffering from historically high levels of crime. We also learned that the opportunity to participate in a creative arts project helped develop new transferable skills that can enable young people to have better chances in life. We strongly believe that this understanding helps build better communities.

This event will build on the success of its first that took place on 1st June 2015 at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park and has been designed by the group to showcase their hard work and perseverance. We will also be launching the collaborative project album that has both been produced and created by the group. With the aim of reaching a wider audience, the support from this event will not only help the next generation of artists achieve their potential but also continue to allow ex-offenders to articulate their voices.

We hope you can join us!