THE managing director of Adnams has met with HRH The Prince of Wales to discuss how employers in Suffolk can play a part in reducing crime. Andy Wood from the Southwold brewery was among 120 business leaders from across the UK invited by Prince Charles to attend the 'Seeing is Believing Programme Report Back' seminar held at St James' Palace in London last week.

THE managing director of Adnams has met with HRH The Prince of Wales to discuss how employers in Suffolk can play a part in reducing crime.

Andy Wood from the Southwold brewery was among 120 business leaders from across the UK invited by Prince Charles to attend the 'Seeing is Believing Programme Report Back' seminar held at St James' Palace in London last week.

Like the other delegates, Mr Wood has participated in the programme, initiated by Prince Charles in 1990, which asks influential business representatives to visit a wide range of schools, community organisations and prisons throughout the UK to see how they can help to resolve some of the country's most pressing social issues.

Mr Wood was one of the employers who took part in the range of 'Seeing is Believing' events organised by Business in the Community across the East of England. He led a group of private and voluntary sector employers from Suffolk to visit Hollesley Bay prison where they learnt about the skills and training available for offenders.

The East of England was one of two regions selected as a “test bed” for taking forward ideas set out in the Reducing Re-offending Through Skills and Employment policy document.

The work, undertaken over the past 18 months, was based on the premise that employment is a key factor in reducing re-offending, therefore it is important to provide skills training in prison that will help offenders find work when they are released.

Mr Wood said: “This type of partnership working is exactly what the SIB events aim to achieve and I was able to provide plenty of positive feedback at the seminar with HRH The Prince of Wales in relation to what employers in the East of England are doing to help support their communities and to reduce re-offending rates by increasing the skills and information available to ex-offenders.”

Mike Brophy, BITC regional director, said: “We have had a great response from all of the employers who have taken part in our SIB events.

“Re-offending is a complex area but both business and society can benefit enormously from a co-ordinated approach to addressing the issues. By working with businesses, we can help to fill skills gaps for business and give ex-offenders the chance to integrate into society and therefore reduce re-offending.”