29/01/2025
The end of an era...
Press Release
For Immediate Release
New Leaf Initiative CIC Announces Closure After a Decade of Transformative Impact
Birmingham, UK – 29th January 2025 – After ten years of dedicated service to the community, New Leaf Initiative CIC announces with deep regret that it will cease operations on 28th February 2025. The decision to close comes at a time when funding challenges, contractual uncertainties, and economic pressures have brought the long-term viability of the organisation into sharp focus. Rather than continuing amidst unrelenting uncertainty, we have made the difficult but proactive choice to end this journey on a high - closing in an orderly manner and ensuring that our colleagues have real options and choices about where they take their own futures, and ending this chapter with dignity and gratitude.
Founded in 2014 by Marie-Claire O’Brien, New Leaf has been instrumental in supporting over 2600 individuals facing complex barriers to employment, particularly those within the criminal justice system. Marie-Claire, an award-winning leader, established New Leaf with a mission to harness lived experience to engage and empower marginalised individuals. Under her guidance, the organisation developed comprehensive rehabilitation pathways across many prison projects and contracts from their head office in central Birmingham, with a focus on helping people to stabilise their lives, gain qualifications, and secure meaningful employment, whilst also feeding back about their experiences through consultations and research to speak their truth to power and create broader system change.
The success of New Leaf is a testament to its dedicated staff and volunteers, all of whom have personal experience of the criminal justice and surrounding systems. Their unwavering commitment has led to life-changing outcomes after supporting over 2600 individuals, with 79% of service users engaged with their training academy stating that they felt more stable in their lives due to the support they had received from New Leaf,100% saying they had improved their skills and 81% stating they felt they had better confidence and self-esteem as a result of the organisation and support. 62% of students felt that they had progressed in the world of work following their support; a huge achievement given the national average for finding work post-release stands at 17%, (UK Co-op)
Marie-Claire O’Brien has written extensively about the challenges and successes of rehabilitation. In case studies, she has highlighted client journeys, such as that of a young woman who, after leaving prison, secured a job in construction and later started her own business, and a young man with youth convictions who completed a traineeship and his CSCS qualification with New Leaf and at 22, is now a site manager studying for his degree in construction management. “Stories like these show the power of real opportunity,” she wrote. “Given the right support, people don’t just survive — they thrive!” (UK Co-op)
Reflecting on the journey of New Leaf, Marie-Claire O’Brien said:
“It has been an honour to work alongside such a passionate team and to witness the incredible resilience and growth of our clients. While this chapter is ending, the impact of our work will live on in the lives we have touched and the barriers we have broken down.”
As New Leaf Initiative CIC concludes its operations, the organisation extends heartfelt gratitude to its staff, volunteers, partners, investors, donors and the community, for their unwavering support over the past decade.
Prepared by Mark Simms, CEO of P3 Charity, on behalf of the New Leaf Board
Media Contact:
Marie-Claire O’Brien
Founder and CEO, New Leaf Initiative CIC
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07584 284335
