Give prisoners a chance, says Richard Branson as charity journey nears end
Sir Richard Branson has said “some of the best entrepreneurs are sitting in prisons” as he nears the end of a journey covering more than 1,200 miles in aid of a charity helping young people.
The 68-year-old said he had hired “a lot of ex-offenders” at Virgin companies over the past five years, describing the idea as “good for society”.
The billionaire businessman was speaking ahead of his climb up Mont Blanc – the final stage of the Virgin Strive Challenge that aims to raise money for the charity Big Change.
Throughout the event, he has been accompanied by his son Sam and nephew Noah Devereux.
The challenge has seen a core team of 13 cycle, sea kayak, hike and climb their way from Sardinia across Western Europe.
Sir Richard said he believed the “wasted talent” in prisons could be helped a lot sooner in the education system if schools changed their approach to excluding pupils.
He said “one of the best employees” he had was a woman who arrived at Virgin’s head office from prison on Mondays. Sir Richard also spoke of how one former offender had a senior role at Virgin Trains.
“At Virgin, we take on as many people as we can from prisons and have a lot of exoffenders working at Virgin companies,” he said.