Ruth and Dan founded DWRM in July 2020. DWRM is a social enterprise aimed at increasing opportunities for further and higher education for people in prison and on release. They bring both expertise in facilitating learning and have experience of studying in prison.
Ruth and Dan first came across The Forward Trust when Dan met team members in HMP Hollesley Bay in early 2020. At that stage, they were in the process of writing their business plan and developing a financial forecast. As Dan was still in prison, it was tough, so they were so grateful for the friendly support and encouragement from the enterprise team.
They decided to run a Crowdfunder campaign and also received £2500 from Forward as part of a funding scheme that was running at the time. These funds really helped Dan and Ruth to get their business off the ground.
Ruth and Dan’s model of peer mentoring for people released from prison is clearly aligned with the values of Forward, as is their commitment to employing people with convictions. They have now recruited a board of directors to provide strategic planning and financial oversight and are very proud that over 50% of the board have direct lived experience of the criminal justice system and its services.
On the support they received from Forward, Ruth and Dan said:
“There are so many challenges when starting a new business, and it was great to be able to discuss these with others who were in the same boat. We have attended several online networking and training sessions run by Forward, and we always enjoy learning from this community.”
Watch Ruth and Dan share their story with Forward Enterprise Support.
