The beauty of Lady Val’s multi-layered Networks is that she is able to weave them together to achieve so much more.
The stories below show the work between The Robin Corbett Award and the Corbett Network. This wouldn’t have been possible, without the donations made from this Professional Women’s Network. So thank you to everyone who supported this work. We appreciate it very much.
In 2020, Lady Val launched the Growth Fund- a further opportunity to award funds to worthy enterprises, projects and charities looking to enhance the lives of returning citizens, back into society. With a focus on mental health, job recruitment and rehabilitation, we set out on a mission to find the best independent, smaller enterprises that could benefit from a £10,000 contribution to their great work.
The first recipient of the Growth Fund was Emma Freivogel, Founder at Radical Recruit. Her enterprise bridges the gap between disadvantaged job seekers and the business world. In the nine months of their existence, Radical Recruit have placed 87 people released from prison into permanent employment and was our unanimous choice. We proudly awarded Emma and Radical Recruit £10,000 to further grow and develop her enterprise.
“I am chuffed mate! £10k goes a long way – it’s three months operating costs and we are aiming to get 15 more ex-offenders into work using the dosh so I am delighted!” – Emma Freivogel
Some more examples of how our Networks help.
Rosca Onya
Rosca is fighting extradition – although he has been in the UK since a child, he was in prison when his family were granted leave to remain. His barrister wrote:
“I wanted to express our heartfelt thanks for giving Rosca the opportunity, via your member Andrew Leslau of Socrates Software, to tell his story to your amazing network. He is so grateful for the messages of support, the donations and the expressions of interest which he has received since your network learned of his plight.”
Clare Driver
After the death of her father, she packed up his wardrobe of nearly new clothes and sent to our member to give to people after release. Clare writes:
“I am delighted to say the clothes arrived safely and am hoping they will give dignity to anyone applying for jobs.”
