Shane Hanley, from Go Green Office Furniture in Knowsley, sends more than 30 chairs a month to be repaired and refurbished in the Walton jail’s upholstery workshop.

A company boss in Merseyside has forged a special partnership with HM Prison Liverpool to give inmates a boost in their confidence – and careers.

Shane Hanley, from Go Green Office Furniture in Knowsley, sends more than 30 chairs a month to be repaired and refurbished in the Walton jail’s upholstery workshop.

And he says it’s just the start of a relationship which he hopes will help him and prisoners at the category B/C establishment.

Giving back

Shane, 35, who sells new and used furniture from his base on the Webber Industrial Estate, said: “For me it’s about giving something back to the community, and I love that idea.

“I have discovered from prison officials that it’s important to keep inmates active and focused; it can help prevent any feelings of hopelessness and, of course, by learning skills like those needed in upholstery, it can provide them with valuable skills which they can use when they get out.”

He added: “Without a trade, prisoners are more like to re-offend but, armed with a new craft, they have something to take to employers when they are released – and which gives them hope while they are serving their sentence.”

In time Go Green is hoping to send even more to chairs to the prison which currently uses only two out of five available workshops.

“They have asked me for more chairs – and work – and I would love eventually to provide that,” said Shane. “They pay the inmates for the work they do but it’s minimal, I think it’s about £2 a week but what they get out of it is potentially worth much more than that.”

New location

Shane set up Go Green just two and a half years ago, after working for the family firm of used office furniture in Galway, in the west of Ireland.

Wanting to break out of the family business he moved over to England in search of alternative work, initially as a car salesman. He arrived in Liverpool and liked it so much, he stayed.

Shane set up Go Green in September 2014 and its 8,000 sq ft warehouse stocks thousands of items of new furniture to equip the boardroom or the reception area, along with desks, chairs and storage units to furnish offices, whether large or small.

On a budget

But it is the used furniture Shane and his team supply which is proving just as popular.

“People are often operating within budgets which means that they don’t always want to buy new and, furthermore, they are becoming more socially responsible.

“We don’t want to continue being the throw-away society and seeing stuff that’s no longer needed simply disposed of and ending up in yet another landfill site.”