Arts company shows how to stop offenders returning to crime

A charity founded by the former political adviser behind David Cameron's "hug-a-hoodie" speech has shown the arts can cut criminals re-offending by more than half.

Only Connect, set up by Danny Kruger, is a creative arts company for prisoners, ex-offenders and young people at risk of crime.

Research has found it cut the chances of a former inmate returning to crime to just under 26 per cent - against expectations of 57.5 per cent without such support.

One of its success stories is Kareem Dauda, 29, who had been jailed half a dozen times before acting introduced him to a new life. He took part in an Only Connect production while in Wormwood Scrubs in 2005 for possession of a firearm and aggravated burglary. He is now starring in the company's latest play, His Teeth.

He also works in schools warning pupils against gun crime, is studying for a youth work qualification and is due to start drama school shortly.

Mr Dauda, who grew up in Tottenham and lives in Enfield, said his troubles began when he got in with the wrong gang after being thrown out of school for bullying, after he himself was bullied. "When I was 18, 19, I needed a structure to help me decide what I wanted to be but I didn't have one. Only Connect is that for me now," he said. "My heart's desire now is to make a living as an actor."

A report, Unlocking Value, concludes that using culture to tackle "appalling" rates of reoffending can save "serious amounts of public money". Mr Kruger said: "Theatre is often the best way to reach the reality about crime.

Our work is based on real life, and it tells the truth - it shows what crime is like from the point of view of the criminals and gives them an opportunity for redemption."

The study - commissioned by the Arts Alliance, which promotes arts in the criminal justice sector - found two other charities had a beneficial effect: Clean Break, a theatre group that works with female ex-offenders, and Unitas, which uses arts to improve literacy among teenagers at risk of offending.

Arts Alliance chairman Tim Robertson said a spiralling prison population, shocking reoffending rates and declining budgets meant new ways of working were urgently needed.

"This report makes it clear that arts-based interventions can help to reduce reoffending, and in doing so also save serious amounts of public money," he added. Reoffending is estimated to cost up to £13 billion a year.