The newsletter for arts organisations working in criminal justice | January 2014
[[{"fid":"559","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]
In this month's issue...
Arts Alliance Member Survey - your last chance to let us know what you think!
We have devised a 5 minute survey to find out what you, our members, think of the work we are currently doing, and what you would like to see us doing more of. We would really appreciate your time in answering these questions as any feedback will prove extremely useful. Please click here to take the quick survey before 31 January.
Arts Alliance future planning day and Annual Meeting
The Arts Alliance Steering Group would like to invite the wider membership to feed into Inspiring Futures; the Arts Alliance proposal for developing a large scale research and arts programme of activity from March 2014. On 13 February, the planning day will be held ahead of our Annual Meeting for artists and practitioners to contribute to the vision, design and structure of the proposed programme of activity. Click here for location details and how to get involved.
From the Evidence Library...
'An Evaluation of a Pilot Study of a Literature-Based Intervention with Women in Prison' investigated whether Get Into Reading; a literature-based intervention that has been established in other custodial contexts and non-custodial mental health settings in the UK, transposed to a female prison. The study was conducted through a partnership between researchers from the Centre for Research in Reading, Information and Linguistic Systems at the University of Liverpool, HMP Low Newton and The Reader Organisation. Click here for more information and to read the full report.
Arts Alliance are interested in free meeting facilities
Clinks and the Arts Alliance are always interested to hear about use of free meeting and event facilities amongst our readers and members, particularly in the London area. We would kindly welcome offers to use any available space you may have. Please contact Robert Price with more details.
Learn how to train your volunteers that work in prison
19 February | Birmingham | From £120
Do your staff or volunteers work with offenders in prisons? Would you like to learn how to support and train volunteers and mentors working with offenders in prisons? This one day course run by Clinks has been designed to support trainers and/or volunteer co-ordinators, managing and supporting volunteers. The training has recently been updated to include the support of mentors. Modules include: working in prisons and available resources; the role of the volunteer and mentor in supporting offenders in prison; attitudes and values in relation to crime and justice; and more. Click here for more information or to book.
Music in Prisons presents Police Dog Hogan and Platform 7
20 February, 7.30pm | Bush Hall, London | £10
All profits from this event will go towards The Irene Taylor Trust 'Music in Prisons', supporting its inspirational work with people of all ages inside prisons throughout the UK, young people at risk of offending in the community, and ex-prisoners rebuilding their lives on the outside. Police Dog Hogan is a high energy and eclectic seven-piece fusing country, pop, folk and rocking urban bluegrass. Platform 7, formed in 2012 on Music in Prisons' 'Sounding Out' ex-prisoner programme, bring soul, funk and feeling to the stage with performances described as "big on tunes, massive on heart, off the scale in terms of talent." Click here to book.
Evaluating Enrichment: final seminar in ESRC series
21 February, 10am | Leicester | Free
This is the final seminar in a series supported by the Arts Alliance and made possible by the Economic and Social Research Council. This seminar will not only draw together ideas of best practice learnt in the previous sessions, but it 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 and will consider how we hear and value the voices of offenders and ex-offenders who have taken part in activities. Click here for more information.
Running to Stand Still: stories from the inside
24 February, 6.30 - 8pm | Free Word Centre, Farringdon | £5
Join Jackie Kay, judge of English PEN's third prison writing competition, for the launch of an anthology of the winning entries: a mix of prose, poems, memoir and book reviews from 70 different prisons across the UK. There will be performances of the prize-winning entries, copies of the anthology and a panel discussion about identity and the redemptive power of stories to change lives with writer Jake Arnott, criminologist Helen Nichols and economist Vicky Pryce. Click here to book.
Training: supporting ex-offenders
4 March | London | £90 - £125
Homeless link's one day course; 'Criminal Justice: Supporting Ex-Offenders' aims to provide participants with a greater understanding of how the Criminal Justice System operates and the implications that this has for the homelessness sector. The course, which is suitable for new frontline staff or experienced professionals wanting to update their skills, will look at how offending behaviour should be seen as a specific need and the roles and responsibilities of homelessness sector staff working with clients in custody and on community sentences. Click here for more information.
Another chance to see: From Page to Stage - 'Stand or Fall'
4 March, 7.30pm | John Stripe Lecture Theatre, University of Winchester | £8/£5
Following on from the successful screening of this documentary in December, the University of Winchester are repeating the event. The broadcast standard film follows the journey of 13 prisoners in West Hill, HMP Winchester, as they workshop and rehearse the play 'Stand or Fall' by Brian Woolland in 2008. The play was written especially for the group and was developed through workshops with the writer who also directed the play. The director/writer will be at the screening along with the film makers (LaunchPad Productions), graduates who took part as undergraduates and the ex-prisoner who played the lead in the show. For more information, please email Annie McKean.
Safe Ground: Fathers Inside Training
3 - 6 March | National Prison Training College, Newbold Revel, Warwickshire | £65
Fathers Inside is a 5-week parenting programme, designed to be taught in prison by two full time tutors, in liaison with a part-time family support worker, with class sizes of 14-20 men. The programme stimulates changes in attitude and behaviour through active use of drama, fiction, group discussion, team games and written portfolio work, culminating with a group presentation during a Family Visit Day. This residential training course provides professionals with the essential tools to deliver Fathers Inside. Places cost just £65 per delegate, including meals and accommodation. Click here to book.
Write to be Heard practice sharing events
6 & 12 March, 10am - 4pm | London & Manchester | Free
The Arts Alliance's arts and education project, Write to be Heard, has worked with Geese Theatre Company, Prison Radio Association and creative writers to deliver 28 creative writing workshops in prisons across the UK. We are now hosting two practice sharing events to take forward the learning points of the project and explore how arts organisations can work with prisons and education providers to improve offenders' literacy and life skills. The sessions will be of interest to education providers and those responsible for curriculum development, prison staff and others working directly with prisoners. There will be two practice sharing days, one in London (6 March) and one in Manchester (12 March). Click here for more information.
Prisoner Action Net: Innovative approaches to reduce reoffending
15 May, 10am - 4pm | London | £160 - £225
This conference will bring together leading experts in the field and experienced front-line practitioners to address the question 'what makes a good prison?' The day will be beneficial for Governors, Heads of Learning and Skills, education staff, prison officers, probation staff and charities and voluntary organisations working in prisons. It will cover how leadership and management can reduce reoffending by fulfilling prisoners' aspirations and ambitions and how to support prisoners to be good partners and fathers while in prison and afterwards. It will look at rebuilding prisoners' and ex-offenders' identities, and how the Good Prison and the Conscience Compact can contribute to resettlement and winning Transforming Rehabilitation contracts. Click here for more information.
Safe Ground is looking to recruit new Trustees
Safe Ground works to reduce the risk of offending and reoffending based on a continually developing understanding of the origins and impact of crime and a commitment to empowering people to change, whether in prison or the community. The new Trustees will join the existing board and help support the Executive Director and other Trustees in strategically developing and securing the legal and financial wellbeing of the organisation. They are looking for people will an active interest in and experience of: theatre based practice, community arts based practice, prison education, probation service experience and/or other relevant and applicable backgrounds. For more information and an application pack, please click here.
Dance United are now recruiting for their new project
The Dance United London Academy are now recruiting for their next project, which they are delivering in partnership with Catch 22. They are specifically looking to recruit 16 - 18 year olds who are NEET, without an English or Maths GCSE. The project begins on 29 January, running full time until 3 April. It will be a contemporary dance programme, but with supplementary lessons helping their learners achieve their Functional Skills (English and Maths). Click here for more information.
The Cred-ability Training Programme - what would work for you?
Are you training people in how to run arts projects in prisons or would you like to train people in how to run arts projects in prisons? Would you like to accredit the training that you provide at an international level? Maybe you're already running an accredited training programme for artists working in prisons and you'd like more people to know about it. Whatever your current relationship to continuing professional development for artists working in the criminal justice sector, Cred-ability would like to hear about it. They have designed a short questionnaire to ensure that what they are doing genuinely meets the needs of the sector. Click here for more information.
Short film documenting Sharing Good Vibrations event in 2013
Good Vibrations are thrilled to be able to share a short film documenting their Sharing Good Vibrations event back in October 2013. The event celebrated 10 years of Gamelan in the Criminal Justice System and 25 years of Gamelan at the Southbank Centre and highlighted the creative, important and inspiring work done with Gamelan (and other artforms) in criminal justice and the community. Click here to watch the video.
The a-n Bursary Programme: giving artists what they ask for
In 2014, a-n are extending their artist bursary programme to provide more small awards for self-determined professional development. Bursaries are open to application by emerging and mid-career visual and applied artists who hold a current a-n Artist + AIR membership and are permanently UK-based. Click here for more information on the bursaries available and the relevant deadlines.
Clinks Director Clive Martin in the Guardian
Clinks Director, Clive Martin, spoke to Erwin James recently about his thoughts and concerns on Transforming Rehabilitation. Clive fears that smaller charities could end up being used as 'bid candy' by the prime providers in order to secure contracts, and finds it difficult to see what monitoring of contracts is going to be in place. Clive says: "We are constantly fed the story of failure and of risk - what's really inspiring is the story of people changing for the better and turning their lives around, of which we hear less and less. But that is the story that really makes communities safer." Read the full interview here.
Multistory is looking to meet ex-offenders in the West Midlands
Multistory, an arts organisation in the West Midlands, is looking to meet local ex-offenders who are willing to share their personal stories. Have you been involved in a crime or do you know/work with anyone who has? If you are interested or know someone who is, please email Claire Wearn. This is a non-profit project, with donations being made to restorative justice.
More in arts and criminal justice
- Arts Council England's national portfolio and major partner museum application process is now open for 2015 - 2018.
- Help Safe Ground raise money for their programmes that use the arts, group work and relationship skills to help reduce reoffending by joining them on the Run 2014: The Bobble Hat Run.
- The Arts Award; a range of unique accredited qualifications open to anyone aged 25, now have new Youth Justice resources available to help with reducing reoffending rates through providing a positive, creative outlet.
[[{"fid":"1656","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]Resources & publications
New research: education reduces reoffending
New Government research published by the Ministry of Justice's Data Lab on 9 January 2014 proves that studying a wide range of courses in prison makes people less likely to reoffend when they are released. The rigorous report sampled over 3,000 prisoners who had been funded by Arts Alliance members Prisoners Education Trust (PET) to study distance learning courses in prison and found a reduction in reoffending when compared with similar prisoners. Figures show that the one-year reoffending rate for prisoners who received PET's support was over a quarter lower at 19% compared to 26% for the matched group. Click here to read the full report.
Musical Pathways
'Musical Pathways: an exploratory study of young people in the Criminal Justice System, engaged with a creative music programme' is the result of a three-year research project funded by the BIG Lottery Fund and undertaken across eight youth justice settings in England and Wales. The study investigated the impact of participatory music making on health, wellbeing and rehabilitation of young people in justice settings. Click here to read the executive summary.
Evaluation of the Employment and Reoffending Pilot
The Employment and Reoffending Pilot was co-commissioned by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as part of a planned programme of pilots to test the application of payment by results (PbR) approaches in the area of criminal justice. The strategy sets out the Government's plans to transform the way in which offenders are managed in the community in order to reduce reoffending rates. It is anticipated that the Employment and Reoffending Pilot will provide valuable information to inform the implementation of Transforming Rehabilitation. Click here for more information.
[[{"fid":"1657","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]
© Clinks
59 Carter Lane,
London, EC4V 5AQ
0207 248 3538
Arts Alliance on twitter
Arts Alliance website
Clinks website
unsubscribe from this list | Terms & conditions of use
Clinks manages the Arts Alliance and is the legally accountable body for all official Arts Alliance activity. Clinks is a registered charity registration no 1074546 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no 3562176