The Randal Foundation are proud to partner with De Montfort University (DMU) to support two distinct but complementary initiatives at DMU: Talent Unlocked and Employing Potential. Together, they address a critical gap in the criminal justice system by improving rehabilitation pathways, employability, and employer confidence. The funding will therefore deliver clear public benefit: reducing reoffending, improving employment outcomes, and fostering a more resilient, inclusive, and humane society.
Through these projects, DMU will directly engage individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system, equipping them with practical skills, confidence, and pathways into meaningful employment or self-employment. Improved economic stability and wellbeing for participants will, in turn, generate wider indirect benefits for families, employers, and local communities, with positive impacts extending to thousands more.
Talent Unlocked, led by Dr Jacqui Norton, is a pioneering initiative developed in partnership with HMP Leicester. Building on its original launch in 2017 as the UK’s first two-week in-prison arts festival, the project demonstrates how creative industries, freelancing, and self-employment can offer viable and dignified routes to economic participation for people with convictions. Participants develop transferable skills, entrepreneurial mindsets, and realistic pathways into creative self-employment, supporting both personal rehabilitation and long-term desistance.
Employing Potential, led by Dr Nicola Collett, focuses on the demand side of employment. Through a structured programme of workshops and talks, the project will provide employers of all sizes with evidence-based guidance, practical tools, and confidence to recruit people with criminal records responsibly and effectively. Any employers interested in taking part please get n touch!
Collectively, this work strengthens DMU’s contribution to evidence-based rehabilitation. It enhances national understanding of education and digital inclusion in justice settings, and improves rehabilitation environments through sustained partnerships with prisons and justice agencies. This work will culminate in a publicly accessible report to inform future policy and practice. Importantly, DMU will model best practice by employing individuals with convictions within both projects.
On behalf of De Montfort University, I would like to thank the Randal Foundation for its generous support of our Talent Unlocked and Employing Potential initiatives. Together, these programmes address a critical gap in the criminal justice system by supporting pathways into employment, and building skills and confidence. It will enable individuals with lived experience of the justice system to contribute positively to their communities.
At DMU, social justice is not an abstract ideal, but a responsibility grounded in our deep connection to Leicester and its people. It will be at the forefront of what we do over the next decade. Your support allows us to extend opportunity where it is most needed and to play a meaningful role in building a fairer, more humane society.
Professor Dr Kasim N Sheikh LLM, PHD, FHEA, CMgr FCMI, CMBE
Pro Vice Chancellor, Social Justice
Dean, Faculty of Business and Law, Professor of International Law and Human Rights
