During the two day trip to Northern Ireland Georgina visited heritage projects such as Clonard Monastery, The Ulster Museum and a site visit to the MAC (a new theatre space in the Cathedral Quarter) as well as meetings with representatives of NIACRO and the Probation Service who have been involved with the Inspire Project for women offenders.  The visit culminated in the Review and launch of the 2012 Community Interventions With Women Offenders programme which took place in the Long Gallery at Stormont.

To read the Community Interventions Report go the link below

Community interventions

 www.buildingthemac.com

NOMS have announced £3.5m in funding to be shared across 30 centres. It is expected that more than 5,000 women will benefit from the services offered by the centres.  Work at the centres focus on addressing the root causes of offending, including substance abuse and issues around domestic and sexual violence. You can listen to Baroness Corston talk about the funding on Radio 4′s   Women’s Hour

Crispin Blunt MP announces baseline funding for women’s community services

Justice Minister Crispin Blunt used the occasion of the launch of the CIFC evaluation to announce that, as of financial year 2013-14, £3.5 million will be baselined into Probation Trusts budget to support women’s community services.  Mr Blunt confirmed that future funding would be for ‘services with a proven track record of tackling offending behaviour’.

The Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition (CIFC) has just published an external evaluation on the work it has undertaken since 2008. The report shows that its unique approach to funding advocacy has ensured the crucial issue of women in prison remains a priority for the government and UK public.

Click on the link to read the full document

Corston Evaluation

John appeared on Radio Four’s Start the week on Monday with Andrew Marr, Professor Mike Hough, playwright Simon Stephens, head of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti and on BBC Breakfast TV

To listen to the BBC podcast click on the link below

Start The Week

Podmore has spent much of his career in the Prison Service, as a governor and latterly as an inspector.He concludes that prison simply does not work. He argues that crime proliferates in prison, it is a poor deterrent

and for many it represents a place of safety and is preferable to life on the street.Podmore believes that prison is necessary to protect the public from some,but that it should provide an opportunity to change the lives of many.Progress is hampered by public prejudice, political dogma and media hype.The result is that there is no real debate and a worsening problem that most people would rather ignore.

An international conference on women who offend and their treatment in the criminal justice system took place  in Cambridge this week.  The conference was the result of collaboration between the University and  Women’s Breakout, formerly Women’s Centre Forum and brought together policy makers, practitioners and researchers from the UK and across the world. This conference follows on from two previous and very successful international conferences on ‘Women, Crime and Criminal Justice’ which took place in Prato, Italy, in 2004 and 2007. The main aim was  ‘to share learning and best practice in recognising the diverse needs of women, and the need to de-escalate both the pressures which lead towards crime and the steps towards custody; thus diversion from both crime and custody and desistance in terms of what might help women’s pathways away from crime. This involves considerations of dignity in attempting to meet women ‘where they are’ and to respond to women’s real needs.’

To read the Programme click below

Women,Crime and Criminal Justice Practice

The inspection focused on women who had either been sentenced to a community order or who had been released from prison on licence. The purpose of the investigation was to consider the extent to which noncustodial options were being put forward and taken up with regard of women offenders.

The report found that:

• Probation Trusts had responded well to the strong lead given by the National

Offender Management Service (NOMS), the Ministry of Justice and other partners

and had developed a sound strategic framework;

• funding had been made available to support the work undertaken and develop

new initiatives; and

• women’s centres offered a great resource for women likely to offend or reoffend

Read the full report here:

Equal But Different

• The identification of best practice in the field of Early Intervention
• The dissemination and delivery of best practice at a local level
• New ways to fund early intervention in the future.

Read the full report here:

Early Intervention: Smart Investment, Massive Savings

The Trustees had offered to the fund “Preserving the ‘Typographical Association Preston Branch’ banner project in October 2010. The work started in late 201o and has continued since then. The process has been challenging, as the strength and flexibility of the linen has been variable depending on the type of paint applied to the different areas of the design however despite the complications the conservators anticipates that the work will be completed in 2012.  For more information on the project please go to the main News section.

The film is currently available on then News and Gallery sections of the website. The People’s History Museum have expressed an interest in using it in a forthcoming exhibition. Bob Griffin has plans to return to West Dean College in the Spring and as offered to make a film of the Pilgrim Trust’s MA Student which will also be available on the website.

To see the film click on the link below

The People\’s History Museum