Woodworking opens doors for ex-offenders: Sustainable design meets social impact in Brighton

The University of Brighton and local charity MIO empower ex-prisoners through chair-making - building skills, confidence, creativity, and eco-conscious design.

8 September 2025

While rehabilitation and reintegration are increasingly recognised as crucial to reducing reoffending, many people leaving prison still face stigma, unemployment, and social exclusion. Only 17% of ex-offenders in the UK secure work within a year of release, with standard training schemes often overlooking the deeper need for belonging, creativity, and purpose.

A new initiative seeks to change that. Drawing on the expertise of MIO – a Brighton-based charity supporting people to rebuild their lives through structured, creative work – and specialists from the University of Brighton’s School of Art and Media, the project introduces participants to traditional furniture-making in a supportive, hands-on environment.

Alongside developing transferable life skills, participants gain pride and purpose from creating objects that carry both social and environmental value. Working with reclaimed and locally sourced materials, they learn joinery, woodturning, and chair-making while exploring sustainable design principles – transforming sustainable timber into beautiful, functional pieces with real market potential.

Since its launch in early 2025, around 30 participants have taken part, gaining not only practical skills but also the pride of contributing to meaningful work. Their achievements will be celebrated at Materials Matters, part of the London Design Festival, from 17–20 September 2025, where selected pieces will be showcased to the public. Some of the makers will also attend, sharing their stories with the public.

One of the participants, Jake, began his journey with MIO in April 2022 and says the structured, supportive environment helped him navigate a very difficult time. Originally training in art and design he says he had lost touch with his creativity. He said: “At MIO I learned how to upcycle things destined for the scrapheap into useful and cherished items, and the metaphor wasn’t lost on me. I was inspired to retrain in carpentry and joinery, my interest in design was rekindled and I started making art again for the first time in decades.

“The MIO collaboration with the University of Brighton has given me fantastic opportunities to explore woodworking and furniture making as a holistic process, starting from the trees and ecosystem that produce the materials all the way to the ergonomic and economic suitability and sustainability of the finished products, and to reintegrate myself with both the culture I live in and with the natural world we depend on.”