Steve Rawlins - Man on a Mission
mp3 audio file download from November 5th 2006 meeting. We also now have a 58MB mp4 video testimony from 7th February 07. Below some of his testimony taken from an article by Marcia Dixon, while we await transcript of audio - but that will be a mission!!
Rawlins helps ex-inmates find work
The Workout Project in Elephant & Castle, south London, is making it its business to stop the cycle of re-offending among black prison inmates and to help them find stable employment.
Launched in May 2005 by Pecan, a charity that helps unemployed people find work, the Project is now achieving its goals.
Steve Rawlins, 41, serves as manager of this initiative. He was put forward for the role by his pastor and mentor, Frank Brooks, who has supported Rawlins ever since he became a Christian while serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking.
Rawlins said: “When I first looked at the job I wondered if I was ready for it. It was a very intense project and involved a lot of work, however it was also something that I had always wanted to do.”
CLIENTS
Upon taking up the job, Rawlins ensured ex-offenders were employed on the team as he felt they would fully understand the client base the Workout Project supports – former black offenders, whose race and criminal record discriminates against them getting work.
The project is very hands on. Many of its clients are referred by statutory and voluntary agencies, and staff members make contact with inmates prior to their release, offering them help in getting work and accommodation.
Mentors are often put forward by The Street Pastors project and churches. The mentors support the former inmates as they progress to community living.
Upon their release, the ex-inmate is met by a member of the Workout Team as soon as possible, given a place on a life skills training induction course and given a voluntary work placement. Workout clients also meet with a job coach who helps them compile a CV, develop interview techniques and find a job.
One valuable aspect about the Workout Project is that the inmates do genuine work.
Rawlins said: “We go to employers to win commercial contracts and deliver those contracts using teams of ex-offenders. We’ve had 40 people go through the programme. Some have got full-time work, others have gone on to full-time education. One success story is Robert. He had been in prison for for burglary. He went through the Workout programme for two months, after which he got a job as a trainee drug counsellor. He has now been in that job for over 12 months.
There’s no doubt that Rawlins is the right man for the job. He’s done time on a number of occasions. He received his first prison sentence in 1986 for robbery and his last in 1996, when he was sentenced to 13 years for drug trafficking. He served seven years and was released in 2003.
It was while serving his sentence that Rawlins became a Christian. His new-found faith inspired him to study for a degree, train as a samaritan to support suicidal prisoners, and work alongside the prison chaplain to devise programmes to help inmates deal with various issues.
Now married and serving as a member of Raleigh Park Baptist Church in Brixton, south London, he would like more churches to support the Workout Project, either through providing mentors or employment opportunities for its clients.
Rawlins says he feels former inmates are a resource that can be used to help deter young people from crime, and that the church must be at the forefront of helping them rehabilitate their lives.