Inside Sony Music
- Sony Music UK Awarded Prestigious YOUNITED Flag for Commitment to Hiring Ex-Offenders
- Oct 07, 2021
Sony Music is one of fifteen UK companies to have been awarded the YOUNITED Flag, in recognition of our commitment to hiring ex-offenders.
Launched in September 2019 by Nile Rodgers and crime prevention charity Key4Life, the YOUNITED Flag award encourages companies to employ ex-offenders, rewarding those that do with the prestigious kitemark. Flag-bearing former convicts on horseback paraded at Mansion House for the awards ceremony last week, where Alderman William Russell, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, presented the accolades.
“I’m honoured to present the YOUNITED Flag awards,” said Russell. “It’s remarkable to see graduates from rehabilitation programmes attaining impressive corporate roles because someone cared enough, for long enough, to change their lives. Employing ex-offenders offers the chance to include a new perspective in the workplace and provides a genuine opportunity to do something meaningful by offering these young men a second chance.”
The ceremony also marked the ninth birthday of Key4Life, which has an unrivalled track record for transforming the lives of some of the most disaffected young men in Britain. The charity reduces re-offending through its innovative rehabilitation programme for young men in prison and those at risk of going to prison, saving lives by helping to break the cycle of crime.
“Research shows that 50% of corporate Britain would not hire ex-offenders, and yet having a job is the crucial success factor for men with convictions,” said Eva Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Key4Life. “With reoffending costing the UK government £18.1 billion a year, the YOUNITED Flag award highlights how employing ex-offenders can drive change by dispelling stereotypes and removing unfair prejudice.”
