KUDOS to Barista Express Cafe for the wonderful work it is doing with those sidelined by society - the mentally ill, ex-prisoners or people with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus.

At Barista, the mentally ill learn to serve food and drinks to customers with the main aim of getting these troubled people back into the mainstream workforce.

I have a group of friends who do volunteer work with inmates and one of the biggest problems of these inmates when they leave prison is the ability to secure a job.

In spite of the publicity that has been given to the Yellow Ribbon project and the government call on employers to back it, life is still difficult for those who leave the prison after their jail term. These former prisoners say that they often have to lie about their past to secure a job. I know many religious organisations take an active role to help these former prisoners settle back into the normal world. Help they provide include looking for jobs, providing counselling and companionship and sometimes even providing accommodation.

But it is time for others to take on a bigger role.

The fear of counsellors is that isolation and rejection could prove a quick way to drive these former prisoners back to crime and prison.