The newsletter for arts organisations working in criminal justice | December 2013
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In this month's issue...
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Arts Alliance news
From the Evidence Library....
'Sounding Out' by Jim Cartwright followed Music in Prisons as they ran a pilot 'through the gate' project which, through music, aimed to provide longer-term rehabilitative opportunities to previous project participants in order to help bridge the gap between life inside and out of prison. The key aims were to assist reintegration; impact on reoffending rates and returns to prison; impact on employment and further training; improve wellbeing, motivation and aspirations; provide a level of financial assistance; and provide a positive activity base that fostered new opportunities. Click here to read the full report.
The Arts Alliance Pilot Mentoring Scheme... There are still spaces on The Arts Alliance's Pilot Mentoring Scheme, which aims to expand opportunities for members to develop professional skills and knowledge in the field of arts and criminal justice through a one to one mentoring relationship. Expert mentors working in the arts and criminal justice sector will provide a minimum of four meetings or telephone conversations over a six month period to their mentee. The mentors will provide a range of support about using arts within the Criminal Justice System, such as: • Professional guidance• Networking opportunities• Ideas for direction of travel• Advice on training and professional development• Information on relevant events• Management skills• Advice on running arts projects/programmes and organisations. Click here for more information. Transforming Rehabilitation and the arts: Live online discussion Clinks' Policy Team have been writing a regular blog series, 'TR So Far', which follows developments in the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reform programme. The series asks some key questions about the impact that the reforms are likely to have on the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector. We would like to ask you what your thoughts are on Transforming Rehabiliation and the impact it might have on your arts organisation or project. Join us on Twitter on Friday 31 January 2014, 3 - 4pm, where we will be using the hashtag #ArtsTR to discuss this topic. The Live Discussion will be hosted by Ellie Cumbo, Clinks' Policy Manager. If you have any questions you would like Ellie to answer, please email them to kate.davey@clinks.org. Write to be Heard News We're moving into the final three months of Write to be Heard and are busy recording the celebration programmes. Selected work is being read by prisoners in HMP High Down, HMP Brixton and HMP Styal for shows that will be broadcast over Christmas. We are also developing a creative writing resource for prisoners and practitioners, incorporating film clips and audio. For a taster, this is workshop leader Adam Lowe offering an easy way into poetry (the password is 'writing'). One place left on Improving Your Evidence training There is only one place left on the free Clinks and NPC Improving Your Evidence two day training specifically designed for arts organisations working in criminal justice settings. The two-day programme will provide a comprehensive introduction to monitoring and evaluation and help you develop an effective strategy for your organisation or project. The workshop is taking place on the 4th and 5th February at the Wesley Hotel, London. The training will be practically focussed rather than theoretical and there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss specific challenges you face. If you are interested in taking up the last place, please email Robert Price: robert.price@clinks.org. Prisoner Learning Alliance publish Smart Rehabilitation On Monday 9 December, 17 different organisations, including the Arts Alliance, signed an open letter to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling asking him to put education at the centre of his rehabilitation reforms ahead of a new report. 'Smart Rehabilitation' highlights the falling standards of prison education recently published in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons' annual report, along with increasing numbers of prisoners being locked up in their cell and a rise in incidents of violence and self harm in adult male prisoners. Click here to read more. Evaluating Enrichment: Last in the ESRC Seminar Series 21 February 2014, 10am - 4.30pm | Leicester | FreeThis seminar will not only draw together ideas about best practice learnt in the previous sessions, but will also consider how we might be able to reconcile differing theories and methods of evaluation for activities that do not always conform to traditional output and outcome models. The seminar will explore how the current political landscape impacts upon evaluation, looking at new approaches. Click here for more information and to book.Finally, don't forget to keep an eye out, or email Jess Plant (jessica.plant@clinks.org) for more information on the Arts Alliance's annual meeting in the new year, which will be taking place in February. This will be our last newsletter of 2013, so we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Events & trainingArts Alliance members have a range of events happening throughout the winter, please don't forget to check out the Arts Alliance events webpage and send us details of your event to share with the membership.
Musical Pathways Research Symposium Report Launch
9 January 2014, 9.30am - 4.30pm | Paintworks, Bristol | Free
In conjunction with the Big Lottery Research Programme, Superact and the University of the West of England would like to invite researchers with an interest in 'Arts and Justice' to attend the 'Musical Pathways Research Symposium Report Launch.' Musical Pathways is a three year project that studied the effect of music on confidence and identity in young offenders. The Musical Offenders Pathways Research Symposium will host presentations, group discussions and panel debates. For more information, click here.
Woman at the HeArt dissemination event
18 February 2014, 9.30am - 2.00pm | Oxford | Free
Women at the HeArt is a Thames Valley Partnership project funded by Arts Council England and The Monument Trust which uses creativity to engage vulnerable women. There will be a dissemination event on 18 February 2014 in Oxford. Come along for the launch of the Women at the HeArt evaluation report and participate in informal activities and conversations. The event is free but booking is essential. For more information, contact Judy Munday by calling 01844 202001 or emailing judy@thamesvalleypartnership.org.uk.
International Perspectives on Participation and Engagement in the Arts
20-21 June 2014 | Utrecht University, Netherlands
There is a call for papers for this conference on participation and engagement in the arts, taking place at the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University, Holland, from 20 - 21 June 2014. The conference itself will provide an opprtunity to network with academics, policy makers and arts practitioners, discuss best practices in participatory arts and participatory decision making in cultural policy and will have international speakers for comparative analysis. For more information on submitting a paper, or attending the event itself, click here.
Creating an Audience Development Plan
23 January 2014 | Southampton | £75+VAT - £125
This CultureHive workshop will take you through the practical steps involved in creating an audience development plan for your organisation. It will enable you to understand your organisation's brand positioning and realise the opportunities of a connected approach for integrating digital, learning, and marketing requirements within one plan. Click here for more information or to book.
Next Steps for Offender Management: Implementing the new framework for probation, resettlement and rehabilitation
28 January 2014 | Central London | £190+VAT
Scheduled to assess next steps and challenges for Government's programme of reform following the Transforming Rehabilitation consultation response - and as the Offender Rehabilitation Bill is scrutinised by Parliamentarians - this seminar will provide a timely opportunity to consider the future of offender management services in England and Wales. Bringing together leading policymakers with stakeholders from across the Criminal Justice System, sessions will focus on how an evolving framework can reduce offending rates, whilst also delivering value for money for taxpayers. Delegates will also consider how efforts to strengthen the diversity and effectiveness of service providers working in the rehabilitation sector might work in practice, with a particular focus on the future use of payment by results in this area. Click here for more information and to book.
Arts projects put health and wellbeing on centre stage
Arts Council England funded projects are celebrating recognition for the good work they do to improve the health and wellbeing in local communities in the South West, including Creativity Works who received an award from Breakthrough National Positive Practice in Mental Health Awards for their work with women in the Criminal Justice System. The success of the South West's work around arts, health and wellbeing also feeds into the Arts Council England's holistic case for arts and culture, which looks at how arts and culture are intrinsically linked to the social, cultural, and economic wellbeing of the country. Click here to find out more.
Art Ventures Fund
Investing for Good is working with members of the Art Ventures Fund Group to launch the first co-mingled social investment fund for the arts sector. The £10m fund will open in 2014 and deploy new social investment money into organisations that deliver an artistic and social benefit to their communities. It has the potential to enable many small and medium sized arts and cultural organisations to develop greater sustainability and financial resilience. For more information on the Art Ventures Fund, please contact Geoff Burnand at gburnand@investingforgood.co.uk.
London Arts in Health Forum is looking for a Development Manager
LAHF are looking to appoint a new Development Manager on an initial six month contract to support the implementation of our programme of projects. Working with the Director, the Development Manager will help shape and develop project proposals, research relevant, potential income streams and develop funding applications. The role is a freelance post, estimated at taking about 2 days a week working flexibly and from home. The initial contract is for six months with a fee of £1,000 per month. The deadline is 9am on 20 January 2014 and interviews will take place on 29 January 2014. Click here for more information.
Geese Theatre Company is looking for Male Actors/Groupworkers
Geese Theatre Company is a team of actors and group workers who present interactive drama and conduct workshops, staff training and consultation within the criminal justice system. The company is currently looking for Male Actors/Groupworkers to become involved in all of their performances, workshops and groupwork programmes. The company will provide 6 months training and a starting salary in the region of £20,500. Click here for further information.
More in arts and criminal justice...
- Laure Prouvost was crowned the winner of this year's Turner Prize, beating off competition from Tino Sehgal, David Shrigley and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
- Insider Access is a free monthly interactive digital magazine created and edited by ex-offenders. The latest version is now online.
- The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2014 is now open for entries. The competition is open to all writers born in Wales or currently living in Wales with a first prize of £2,000.
- Saskia Evans is a film maker looking to collaborate with prison based writing groups or projects with offenders that might be open to being documented on film. Ideally the projects will be starting after March 2014. If you are interested, please email evans.saskia@googlemail.com.
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Re-Imagining Futures: Exploring Arts Interventions and the Process of Desistance
Carried out by Northumbria University and Bath Spa University, this Arts Alliance report highlights examples of how the arts can support positive changes linked to personal agency, efficacy and identity, which are linked to the highly individualised journey of desistance from criminal behaviour. Download the full report here.
Clinks: Involving staff in monitoring and evaluation
Effective monitoring and evaluation depends on the active contribution of staff/volunteers. There are three ways in which staff may be involved: They can contribute to an organisation's overall approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning; they may be asked to collect data from service users; they may be treated as 'monitoring and evaluation subjects'. 'Achieving staff/volunteer commitment and participation in monitoring and evaluation' is a new Clinks and NPC guide that examines each of these. Download it here.
Arts Index 2013: download your copy
The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) publishes the Arts Index as a health check of the arts in the UK. The NCA hope that the Arts Index provides policy-makers with independent and objective information on what is happening in the arts world. The Index is made up of 20 measures - what goes in; like investment, and what goes out; like audience sizes. The 2013 edition includes new data for the years 2010/11 and 2011/12. Download a copy here.
Pathways through the maze: a guide to procurement law
This is the second edition of NAVCA and NCVO's useful guide to navigating through the maze of procurement law. The guide answers the most common questions voluntary and community organisations have about procurement processes and explains the legal requirements applying to public bodies' procurement exercises. The guide was published in 2010, however it may prove helpful and is essential reading for anyone in an infrastructure organisation who works with commissioning, procurement and public services and for all voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises interested or involved in delivering public services. Click here to download the guide.
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