How Collaboration Is Key

Census relies on strong industry partnerships to make the difference. Hear from Ian Mulholland on our relationship with Interserve and his views on the partnership so far.

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Together we can amplify impact

Hear It From Our Colleagues

Voluntary organisations who can help people find work upon release from prison have a crucial role to play at a very challenging time. According to the Government’s own stats only 17% of people are in PAYE employment a year after they leave prison. There are many barriers to getting and keeping a job and the support of a voluntary organisation to walk alongside you, make links with employers and help you every step of the way is often needed as the intensive support required is not always provided by the public sector.
Anne Fox
Chief Executive Officer, Clinks
Our aim at High Down has been to provide an avenue that allows individuals to learn skills that are transferable when released. Gaining valuable social and communication skills that will assist in reducing reoffending and primarily working in an environment that replicates a call centre found in any location around the country. This instils a level of worth that will certainly improve employability options. Our agents working for Census Group are part of the team and this has been a perfect partnership that shows there are different options on release. There are certainly some extremely talented individuals who just need to be guided and be given an opportunity.
Alexander Keedens
Deputy Head of Reducing Reoffending, HMP High Down
Interactive have worked with Census for over 4 years on a number of different projects ranging from data supply to fully managed standalone models. They have been a massive contributing factor in the growth and success of our campaigns and ultimately our overall business. From compliance to the performance of the data and leads we achieve with Census, their offering is the strongest, most scalable and sustainable lead acquisition channel in the UK market today.
Robbie Boal
Interactive

Serco on the importance of ‘real work’ within prison walls

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let's collaborate

Richard rowley

Richard Rowley is the Managing Director at Census Life and is responsible for all criminal justice work the social enterprise undertakes. 

Richard has over 20 years’ experience of working with voluntary, public and private sector organisations in the criminal justice arena and still retains the same desire to support people to become the very best they can be. 

Richard is also very proud to be a Trustee for POPS (Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group) in Manchester. 

On the off-chance he is away from work, you’ll find Richard watching football, cooking and spending time with his family – not necessarily in that order!

Kelly Carrel

Kelly Carrel is the Chief Executive of Census Life and is responsible for leading the strategic direction and overall effectiveness of the organisation.

 Kelly has over 20 years’ experience of working within the Customer Management sector and, over the past 7 years, has used this experience to provide meaningful work experience and relevant training to those farthest from the job market.

Most specifically Kelly is focussed on individuals serving custodial sentences, and working with them during this period to ensure they have opportunities for employment on release. Passionate about pursuing social mobility, through the route of employment, this is the key driver of the work for Kelly and her team.

Outside of the office, Kelly enjoys travelling, martial arts & air acrobatics along with spending time with friends and family.

The Census story

Census Group was founded in 2013 by Ian and Kelly Carrel, following their respective careers working in large scale in-house and outsourced contact centre operations both in the UK and overseas.

In 2010 Criminal Record Bureau (now DBS) background checking was becoming ever more prevalent, regardless of whether the role required it. The founders recognised there was an urgent need to address the issues highlighted by this process, as more contact centre agents were losing roles across the industry with a ‘blanket’ approach being applied to every adverse CRB check. This experience in contact centre environments highlighted a significant frustration – having to let well-trained, enthusiastic staff go when their checks returned showing previous criminal convictions. With attrition rates in the industry reaching levels of >25% we knew we could develop an incredibly competent workforce that would also have a wider impact on society

Through our corporate social responsibility strategy we have consistently reinvested profits, to go the extra mile and support colleagues as they leave prison and reintegrate back into our communities. To make this much more fundamental to our work we have developed Census Life, our not-for-profit social enterprise.