Annys Darkwa’s enthusiasm for the work she does is obvious from the minute you meet her. She is the creative and passionate force behind “Vision Housing”, an agency that identifies housing in the private rented sector for people who have just been released from prison.

Annys is very open about her personal journey. Five years ago she left prison and found there were few services to support her. To secure somewhere to live, she had to borrow money and find her own flat. She experienced first-hand how difficult it is to locate a decent place to live and then to convince a landlord to let the property to a former prisoner. It infuriated her to think of the many people she knew who would be leaving prison homeless, would re-offend and head straight back into prison. To Annys, the problem appeared to be solvable, people were leaving prison with nowhere to live; private landlords had available properties.

So Annys set up Vision Housing from the back of her car with just a mobile phone. She had no idea how she was going to do it. She didn’t know much about tenancy law or welfare benefits, but she did know how to talk to landlords frankly and openly. Some landlords explicitly told her they refused to let to “criminals”, informing her that they could “spot them a mile away”. Many were disarmed, however, when Annys told them her own history and they warmed to her. They started to question their own assumptions about “criminals”. Changing the attitudes of landlords turned into a personal challenge for Annys and this, she says, is what kept her going.

Today, Vision Housing works with 45 landlords, and has housed more than 360 ex-offenders; less than 15 percent of them have re-offended – an impressive record given that the average re-offending rate in London is 60% within one year of leaving prison. This exceptional organisation is the result of the vision of one determined woman. Although she admits she has at times felt like giving up, she has relentlessly persevered and has made Vision Housing the professional organisation that it is today. It’s hard to believe that only four years ago this successful organisation, which Oak has funded to expand into North London, was just an idea.