HMCIPS Fresh Start Achievement Ceremony

Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service celebrated the success of the Fresh Start Vocational Training Programme on Wednesday (28 June 2017), as phase one of the pilot project is complete.

During the past eight weeks, a group of inmates worked in tandem with local leaders of various construction companies to learn the trade of the business, and the skills required to obtain a job in the industry.

Prison Director Neil Lavis said the overall goal of the Fresh Start Programme is to reduce inmates’ risk of re-offending by teaching them marketable skills, and providing them with knowledge they can use to find employment as they reintegrate into society.

The programme’s instructors included Mr. Brent McComb with The Phoenix Group, Mr. Neil Armstrong with Clan Construction Ltd. and Mr. Eric Kline with Encompass Cayman.

“This is a programme that has been in the works for more than a year,” Mr. Lavis explained. “The partnerships that were made with all of the construction companies and businesses were critical to the overall success of this project.”