Impetus support:

Impetus investment period: 2004 - 2009
Total funding: £348,000
Value of expertise: £430,000

St Giles Trust 'graduated' from the Impetus portfolio in 2009. Read a review of the investment.

Background to the investment:

St Giles was run by an innovative and energetic team, which needed help with its long term strategy.  The impetus for our involvement was to help St Giles focus its work on providing access to housing, training and jobs for ex-offenders.  A distinctive element was the peer advisor work in prisons which it had identified as an area of growth. This innovative approach had the potential to help address the problem of high re-offending rates.

Focus of Impetus expertise to date:

Strategic planning; marketing; balanced scorecard

Organisational development; team development; property assessment; strategic partnerships

Creating a business development process; building capacity for statutory bidding and input on key bids; review and advice on new five-year strategic plan; input on and contacts with potential new funders.

Key achievements:

• St Giles is now the leading provider of offender resettlement support and services in South-East England, operating in 24 prisons
• The number of people it helps  has increased fifteen-fold since the beginning of our partnership
• Its income has tripled and the percentage of contract income has increased
• St Giles was shortlisted for two awards at the Charity Awards 2009 - the first charity ever to be shortlisted in two separate categories - and it won the award in the social care category.

Find out more about St Giles Trust