From privilege and prison to purpose: The unlikely partnership behind Bridge of Hope Careers

In the world of inclusive hiring, few stories are as compelling – or as starkly contrasting – as those of James Fellowes and Chance Bleu-Montgomery, the co-founders of Bridge of Hope Careers. One hails from an ‘elite’ British background; the other from a childhood of trauma. Together, they’re building a scalable solution to one of the UK’s deepest social problems: how to connect overlooked talent with employers who need them.

Fellowes is keen to emphasise that they are not doing this out of pity “you know, we’re just trying to put people into work who deserve a break and they can add a ton of value to that employer. ”

Fellowes’ own journey is a crash course in corporate rise and personal ruin. “I came from extreme privilege,” he says. “I was in the same class as a boy called Cameron, who ran the country – followed by Boris a couple of years later. Everything was golden until 2008 when suddenly the wheels came off: multiple redundancies, a psychiatric hospitalisation, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the collapse of his marriage, whilst his classmate was Prime Minister. “The experience of being utterly unemployable changed everything,” he recalls. “It gave me a new North Star: the power of work. What it does to your dignity, your self-worth, your family. I wanted to help people get jobs who were frankly less fortunate than myself.”

That mission became Bridge of Hope Careers, an inclusive hiring platform designed to connect employers with talent often filtered out by conventional recruitment systems: ex- offenders, care leavers, neurodivergent individuals, refugees, and others facing systemic barriers.

A talent bridge, not a charity case

Initially, the venture was analog and charity-led – well- intentioned but inefficient. “We were helping people, but it wasn’t scalable,” Fellowes admits. “The turning point was the pandemic. We had to go digital, sector-agnostic, and accessible to anyone with talent who was being overlooked.”

Now, Bridge of Hope operates as a social enterprise, boasting over 75,000 registered candidates and partnerships with 67 blue chip employers, including KPMG, Diageo, and Enterprise. The model is refreshingly commercial. Corporates Pay a subscription – “the cost of a couple of hires,” Fellowes says – for unlimited access to a diverse, vetted talent pool. But access isn’t enough. Changing organisational mindsets is key – and that’s where Bleu-Montgomery steps in.

From trauma to transformation

Unlike his co-founder, Chance Bleu-Montgomery didn’t go to Eton. “No Boris. No Cameron.  The only ‘notable’ guy I knew was called Spider,” he says wryly. His early life was marked by extreme abuse. “My dad didn’t think I was his, so he beat me. I thought I had birthmarks until I was 21 – they were scars.”

By 16, Bleu-Montgomery was in prison. By 18, in a psychiatric unit. His sister, who was his rock and supported him, died young of cancer. “I ended up back in prison again, sitting on a bed, wondering if I wanted to live,” he says. But instead of giving in, he began to fight back. “And so I decided to take the opportunity to fight back and not allow my childhood experiences to define my future.”

“I spent nearly four years in therapy, and five years getting a degree from the Open University. And then this beautiful day came upon me where I was filled with ebullience and the warm tears of joy came flooding down my face. And it was because for the first time in my entire life, I felt freedom.”

That emotional breakthrough inspired his life’s mission. Chance felt whatever work he was going to do from then on, it had to be about changing lives, nourishing communities, creating real difference.

Now, he leads Bridge of Hope’s outreach and empathy-building. Through masterclasses aimed at HR leaders and recruiters, he helps dismantle prejudice around hiring from disadvantaged backgrounds. But he doesn’t use PowerPoint slides – he uses lived experience and empathy. They run workshops that “get participants to feel what ADHD overload might be like, or what it’s like to live with dyslexia. We tell real stories. And when that emotional shift happens in the room, mindsets move.”

From marginalisation to mainstream hiring

The strength of Bridge of Hope lies in turning conventional hiring logic on its head. Everything the outside world sees as a negative, they see as an asset. As James Fellowes says: “The key thing to remember here, ... Been in prison? Brilliant. We’ve got five clients looking for you.” A job seeker who has been in prison, they argue, can show great resilience.

Neurodivergent? Several of their clients are looking for that, people who often have a great deal of creativity. Fellowes cites the CIPD and BITC research: these so-called “untapped” candidates tend to stay longer, work harder, and bring the kind of grit and loyalty employers say they want. “Grit,” he adds, “is the number one predictor of success.”

Despite their growth, both founders remain deeply grounded. And for Bleu-Montgomery, the mission remains deeply personal. He recounts a quiet epiphany with his son... “He’d always say, ‘Dad, I love you.’ Then one day he looked at me and said, ‘Dad, I love who you are.’

That single shift – from loving a parent despite his past to loving him because of the person he had become – reminds Bleu-Montgomery why Bridge of Hope exists: to help thousands of other families feel that same moment of pride and possibility.

Join the Bridge of Hope Ambassador Network

Be part of a national movement which aims to break down employment barriers and promote social mobility.

Connect inclusive employers, share opportunities, earn referral income, and help shape a fairer future of work.

To become a Bridge of Hope Ambassador connect with chance.bleu-montgomery@bridgeofhope.careers, or James.Fellowes@bridgeofhope.careers and help turn potential into opportunity. For more information, visit bridgeofhope.careers

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