this approach in 2020-21 : - We supported 250 people to develop their own enterprise

- Seven entrepreneurs received Crowdfunder match funding totalling £ 30,000

- 30 per cent of entrepreneurs successfully grew their businesses

‘ Accommodation and care received from Forward has been over and above what I would have expected . I ’ m very grateful . Thank you .’

ABDOL

eight established social enterprises to help them with their growth ambitions .

In 2020 we identified an additional need to provide funding to start-ups who were at the early stages of setting up their business but would not qualify for money through other mainstream funding opportunities – for example , prison leavers who struggled to access help due their histories , leaving relatively few sources of support to get their business ideas off the ground .

In response to this , we launched a micro-grant pilot providing up to £ 1,000 in business grants to individuals to help them start or grow their business . This has proved to be a great success , and we are now able to offer more of these grants to clients . Through

PERSONAL WELLBEING We ’ re always keen to expand our service provision and since June 2021 have been delivering two new services for clients referred for specialist support from the Probation Service , having won the competition through the Dynamic Framework to deliver them . The personal wellbeing service provides one-to-one and group support for prison leavers and probation clients on community sentences , supporting their relationships with family and significant others , emotional wellbeing ( including mental health ), social inclusion , positive lifestyles and associates . We work in / with :

- Seven areas as lead provider – Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire , Essex , Lincolnshire , Norfolk , Sussex and Surrey

- Two further areas , Kent and Cheshire , as a subcontractor to Seetec , providing family support

- An estimated 10,000 service users per year within the next three years

ONE-TO-ONE SUPPORT The accommodation service , meanwhile , provides one-toone support for prison leavers and probation clients on community sentences , providing information , advice and guidance on accommodation options and enabling them to access this support .

We deliver the service in three probation areas in Wales ( Dyfed-Powys , South Wales and Gwent ), working in partnership with Kaleidoscope . The service is called Camau , which means ‘ steps ’ in Welsh . It includes work in four Welsh prisons , a new area for Forward , and will be reaching an estimated 1,750 clients per year in Wales within the next three years . Carwyn Gravell is executive director of business development at the Forward Trust .

Being in private practice and working for myself means I have admin and other business-related tasks , like

‘ If there ’ s one thing I ’ d like to change it ’ s public awareness around a compassionate and intelligent understanding of addiction .’

Andrew Harvey is a psychotherapeutic counsellor for AddictionsCounselling . net

marketing , correspondence and accounting . I also occasionally deliver workshops related to understanding addiction , recovery , and other related topics .

I like the mix of addiction and non-addiction clients , and the part of my job I find the most rewarding is definitely the client work – seeing people move into a better way of living , in their recovery .

If there ’ s one thing I ’ d like to change it ’ s public awareness around a compassionate and intelligent understanding of addiction – something that would , I feel , go a long way to addressing some of the stigma . Better-tailored treatment , that seeks to offer choice , is what ’ s needed , rather than the ‘ one size fits all ’ model which , in fact , seems a poor fit for many .

To anyone thinking of a similar career I ’ d say the important thing is to get as much experience as you can , work alongside others in the field , and keep an open mind to the richness of possibility that ’ s available in terms of learning and different perspectives .

OUR ‘ I AM A …’ CAREERS SERIES aims to share knowledge and experience of different careers in the sector . You can take part through the ‘ get in touch ’ button on our website : www . drinkanddrugsnews . com / i-am-a /

Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime . com