Thread by @Channel4News

A charity has warned that reoffending rates could rise as its project, which helped thousands of ex-prisoners escape a life of crime, is due to close its doors after a funding cut.

@JackieLongc4 reports.

channel4.com/news/fears-ser…

@JackieLongc4 Change Grow Live (CGL) says six homes it has run across southern England for 42 years will shut on Friday.

One former service user told Channel 4 News: “If I was coming out of prison now I would fear for my life.”

@JackieLongc4 A year in CGL costs the state £18,344, while a year in prison is £44,000, the charity says. More than two-thirds of men who come through the project go on to live independently, while a third are recalled to prison - often as a result of staff monitoring their behaviour.

@JackieLongc4 Georgina Davies, who runs the CGL project, said ex-prisoners will “flounder” without it, adding: “They'll really struggle. We have helped hundreds if not thousands of men.”

@JackieLongc4 A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We have already found alternative accommodation for almost every offender at CGL and the Government is doing more than ever to make sure people leaving prison do not end up on the streets.”