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Clinks Update
Criminal Justice Forum – The Role of the Voluntary Sector and PCCs in Reducing Reoffending
Tuesday 5th December, 9.30am – 12.30pm, Durham
This forum will focus on how Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and the voluntary sector can work in partnership together to reduce reoffending.
You will have the opportunity to hear about what PCCs are doing in the North East, and discuss opportunities for the voluntary sector to be involved.
Speakers will include representatives from the Office for PCCs for Cleveland and Durham.
Clinks coordinate quarterly forums to provide the opportunity for members to keep up to speed with new developments or step back from the crucial day-to-day work to see the bigger picture, along with improving access to decision makers and allowing time for all-important networking.
Click here for more information or to book your place.
Working and Volunteering in Prisons Training
Clinks are offering an introduction to working and volunteering in prisons training which aims to raise awareness of the prison environment and enable voluntary sector staff and volunteers to have meaningful and professional engagement with prisons, in their shared care of those in custody. This course can be tailored to the needs of your organisation.
For more information contact natalie.maidment@clinks.org
Development Officer Round Up
Each month I will try and keep you up to date about the work I have been carrying out…
I have been meeting potential Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) areas across the North East. Thanks to three years strategic investment from the Big Lottery Fund 25 local areas will receive support to develop the MEAM approach; bringing together data to make a stronger case to government about the impact of local interventions for people with multiple and complex needs. MEAM is a coalition of Clinks, Homeless Link and Mind, formed to improve policy and services for people facing multiple needs, more info here - http://meam.org.uk/
I provided an overview of the criminal justice landscape to Newcastle and Gateshead Fulfilling Live’s annual conference. There was an opportunity to discuss the policy issues those with multiple and complex needs and following this there will be a task and finish group to look at the complexity of those with multiple needs leaving prison.
I convened the housing for offenders group which is a multi-sector group looking at the challenges and opportunities for (ex) offenders to access suitable and sustainable accommodation. The group has decided to meet per Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) area in the North and South of the region. The next meeting will be in December to look at transitions.
I have been meeting with the Director of Rehabilitation for the Tees and wear reform prisons to discuss how to improve engagement between the prisons and the voluntary sector. Each prison will have a rehabilitation lead and will build on the work of ‘The Rehabilitative Prison: Good Engagement with the Voluntary Sector’
Sector Events
NEPACS AGM and Public Meeting
Thursday 9th November 2017, 3.30pm, Durham Marriott Hotel
Attend NEPACS Public Meeting and AGM to hear guest speakers Anne Fox, chief executive of Clinks and Lord Michael Farmer, chair of the recently published Farmer review of ‘The importance of strengthening prisoners’ family ties to prevent reoffending and reduce intergenerational crime.’
Lord Farmer has been a Conservative Peer since October 2014. In his work in the House of Lords he has focused on social justice issues including welfare reform, family stability and domestic abuse. He was also a member of the 2015-16 Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility. He recently published the final report from the Farmer Review on the importance of prisoners' family ties for preventing reoffending and intergenerational crime, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice.
To book you place email tina@nepacs.co.uk
Border Line Books Open Day – Bar None
Sunday 19th November 2017, 12 noon
Border Line Books are holding an open day and using the opportunity to discuss:
Are prisoners our responsibility? What can we do to facilitate rehabilitation and What is the purpose of imprisonment?
From our point of view, obviously we feel that prisoners are our responsibility and we enjoy doing our best to send people the books they request. As for rehabilitation, again, that's right up our street as we would love to see prison leavers running Borderline Books branches around the country.
The discussion will be led by former prison governor Mike Kirby. Also on the panel will be Jason Meecham from Durham Constabulary, who has been helping spread the word to custody suites around the north; Helen Attewell, CEO of NEPACS who run visitors centres at prisons in the North East, Natalie Maidment of CLINKS who support the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, and representatives from Open Gate and Probation (to be confirmed).
To book your place contact Amina Marix Evans kittiwaketrust@gmail.com
Education and Skills Review Insights Event
Darlington, Monday 6th November, 13.00 -15.00
Earlier this year the Northern Powerhouse Partnership chaired by George Osborne, set up an Education and Skills review to investigate why educational attainment at 16 is significantly lower across the North when compared to other regions and how the demand from employers for technical and higher level skills can better be served by the educational system. The Board has undertaken a broad consultative exercise across the North, conducted independent research and will now hold a number of sessions to gather innovative ideas from a range of groups across the North, including the third sector. It will then publish its final report at the start of 2018.
Event Objectives
· Develop a better understanding of what efforts are underway across the North
· Validate initial research findings using real-world context
· Gain expert education/skills opinion and insight from third sector leaders
· Identify and utilise key learnings for the North’s educational review from third sector organisations
Event Format
Five events will take place over a number of weeks. A number of members of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Education and Skills Review Board will attend each event and meet, listen and question each of the organisations present.
Each invited organisation will have a 30 minute slot in which we hope the following can be discussed with the panel:
· Background/scope of your organisation
· What do you think is the biggest challenge currently facing education and skills in the North?
· What is the challenge/gap that you have identified in the education and skills landscape that your organisation is tackling?
· Do you think this is specific to one location or a pan-Northern issue?
· What impact has your work had to date?
· Do you work with businesses/employers? If not, why? If so, how successful has the partnership been?
· Is your programme/project scalable to a wider geography?
· If the government was to announce just one change to education/skills policy what do you think it should be?
A projector, screen and laptop will be provided on the day for any presentations. Invited organisations are welcome to present in any way they wish and may bring anyone with them who they feel will be able to support the presentation (this includes young people and/or users of organisation’s services).
Next Steps
· Confirm attendance on specified date
· NPP to confirm time slot and location address
· NPP to confirm Board attendees
If you have any questions please contact:
george.bloor@northernpowerhousepartnership.co.uk
or; lucy.smith@northernpowerhousepartnership.co.uk
VONNE Annual Conference – The Future of Civil Society & AGM
Thursday 30th November 2017
The theme for VONNE’s conference 2017 is The Future of Civil Society: A North East Perspective and we are delighted to announce our Keynote Speaker will be Julia Unwin CBE, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Civil Society Futures.
We will be incorporating a Civil Society Futures Conversation within the conference, which will feed into the Inquiry’s call for evidence and recommendations.
Make sure you attend and have your say on how the North East’s VCSE sector can tackle the challenges we face together.
IPPR North will also be launching their report Civil Society Support in the North at the conference.
VONNE’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in the morning and the conference will be in the afternoon from 12 - 4pm.
We will also be hosting a First Time Trustee workshop at 4pm following the conference.
Register now for the AGM and Conference.
Sector News
Barry Coppinger, Cleveland PCC calls on the Prime Minster to rethink police cuts.
Mr Coppinger has criticised the Government for effectively cutting the police budget to fund a one off bonus to officers. Mr Coppinger believes police officers and staff should have been awarded a centrally funded pay rise that better reflected the “incredible” job of work they do.
The Government announced they are to fund a 1% pay rise for police officers with a further one off bonus payment equivalent to another 1% to come from existing police budgets.
Mr Coppinger said: “It appears the Government is not providing the funding for this one off bonus, which in Cleveland is likely to mean a half million pound cut to our available budget over the next year.
Read Barry Coppinger’s full letter here.
Edge Fund
Edge Fund is now open for the second funding round of the year! Edge Fund will be giving around £40,000 to about 30 grass-roots groups, campaigning for effective social change. Applications open until Sunday 12th of November. Edge Fund supports those taking action for a just, equitable and sustainable world, funding work that challenges abuses of power and aims to bring an end to the systems that cause injustice.
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