Vertu Motors plc has donated £140,000 to a North East charity committed to transforming the lives of offenders, their families and communities.
Junction 42, based at Brunswick Methodist Church in Newcastle, aims to help offenders reintegrate back into society and work to help reduce crime, therefore reducing the number of victims, and breaking the cyclical nature of offending within families.
The money will be used to enhance the operational capacity of the charity with a fit-for-purpose CRM data system. This will greatly improve its efficiency and enable better, more bespoke solutions to be offered to each individual.
Junction 42 is also recruiting a data impact measurement officer to produce figures that will support the design of its services and products.
Joanne O’Connor, Director at Junction 42, said: “This truly generous donation will make a huge difference to the way we work and bring efficiencies that will impact on our clients in a positive way.
“For example, having no accommodation on release can have a major impact on a person re-offending, so we need to understand why individuals are homeless to enable us to offer a solution that works best for them. That is just one of the ways the new CRM system will help the charity to work better.
“We believe that change is possible, and our faith drives that. Making the transition from prison to becoming a useful member of society requires the right kind of support and opportunities. Working with businesses is paramount, whether through donations, mentoring or providing training or employment.”
Robert Forrester, Chief Executive of Vertu Motors plc, said: “The work Junction 42 does is quite literally life-changing. Not just for the individual, but their family and the community they live in. Reducing offending has a positive effect on every aspect of society.
“As a Group that’s data driven, we completely understand the need for data and how this facilitates decisions. To contribute to the charity becoming more operationally efficient is something we were very happy to do, as this will enable them to help more people and give them better support, hopefully leading to even more successful outcomes.”