Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 316 | 18th October 2013

In this week's edition....

CLINKS SURVEY: for organisations in the North East

As part of our new North East Local Development work, we are surveying organisations working in the region to get an idea of what services are being delivered, and what support needs you have. The survey asks about your organisation, your service users, the services you provide and the support your organisation would benefit from. Completing it will help shape support services in your area, so if you work in the North East, take part here

CLINKS NEWS: influencing the discussion of over-representation of BAME groups in the CJS

This week, Damian Green, Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice, met with Clinks and other VCSE leaders, to discuss the persistent over-representation of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in the CJS. Clinks welcomes this strategic focus and also hopes to work together with the Ministry of Justice and other partners to take forward the recommendations of the round-table we held with BTEG in March on young BAME men at risk of offending. The report from that round-table can be downloaded here

CLINKS EVENT: supporting people with multiple needs

'Improving support for people with multiple needs' is a MEAM event [9th December, London, from £125] that will bring together those working to tackle substance misuse, mental ill health, homelessness, and offending alongside those with direct experience to explore how to improve the support provided to people with multiple needs. Find out more and book your place here

CLINKS EVENT: offender health

‘Understanding the health & care landscape for offenders & their families’ is a joint Clinks, Nacro and APF event as part of the NHS Health and Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partners Programme [3rd December, London, free]. Changes in the NHS’s core structure – including health and care commissioning for offenders - have affected who makes decisions about NHS services, how these services are commissioned, and the way money is spent. This conference – targeted at VCSE organisations working with offenders and their families; service users; family members - seeks to explain those changes. Speakers from NHS England, Public Health England (PHE), and the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector will also help identify how to influence commissioning and provision as well as how to access services. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: evidencing an impact on prisoners' families

Pact's latest Impact Report for 2012-13 shows that they supported 76,000 family members to maintain contact through their prison visits support services. They provided intensive case-work support to over 7,000 prisoners and family members to support them throughout the experience of custody, and over 100 young fathers in prison participated in their relationship and parenting programmes. An evaluation of their casework service by NEF demonstrated that for every £1 of funding invested, the economic return was over £11. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: new mentoring scheme

Clinks Member KeepOut's The Crime Diversion Scheme opened at HMP Brixton last Friday, providing serving prisoners with an opportunity to work with at risk young people. Prisoners offered a place on the scheme undertake training to provide them with the required skills and competencies to work with groups of young people who attend supervised workshops inside of prisons. The facilitated workshops aim to inform, support and divert those aged between 13 years and 17 years who are either at risk of entering the criminal justice system or are already involved in criminal activity. It is proposed that between 450 and 600 young people, from all London Boroughs, will attend each year. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: merger of homelessness and addictions charities

Clinks Member Julian House is delighted to announce that it is in advanced discussions with St Vincent’s Housing, Learning & Guidance, with a view to merging the two organisations. The merger of Julian House and St Vincent’s will bring together two organisations who work with very similar client groups. Bath-based Julian House’s experience and expertise covers a broader range of issues relating to homelessness, with a major focus on reconnecting its clients with their local communities – often by supporting them into their own tenancies. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: Unlock supports 'ban the box' campaign

Clinks Member Unlock has today lent its support and endorsement to the ‘ban the box’ campaign, which is being led by Business in the Community. The aim of the campaign is to increase the opportunity for people with convictions to compete for jobs. Christopher Stacey, Director (Services) at Unlock, said “Far too often we hear from people who are unable to get past the application part of a recruitment process simply because they have to tick ‘yes’ to the questions about convictions. We believe that, by banning the box, employers are better able to consider convictions at a more appropriate stage in the recruitment process, and at the same time are able to give people with convictions a better opportunity to compete for jobs." Watch a very cleverly produced video and support the campaign here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: awards for restorative justice work

Clinks Member Remedi has been been awarded the new Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM) for demonstrating that they meet the Restorative Service Standards. Lizzie Nelson, the RJC’s director said: “The RSQM is a really exciting step forward for restorative justice in this country. We know that restorative justice works, but it’s absolutely essential that it’s done safely and well. For the first time, through the national standards and quality mark, we can make sure that this is the case.” This achievement comes shortly after finishing runner-up in the Adult category of Howard League for Penal Reform's 2013 Community Programmes Awards. Find out more about South Yorkshire-based Remedi here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: new head of National Probation Service appointed

A director has been chosen to lead the new National Probation Service (NPS) after the candidate who was due to take up the post stepped down for personal reasons. Colin Allars, the current director of probation within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), has been chosen to take up the new role following Mike Maiden's withdrawal after an initial appointment in August this year. Sarah Payne's appointment as director of the NPS in Wales is unaffected and the two will work together to lead the new service. It is due to launch in April 2014 and tasked with protecting the public from 30,000 of the most dangerous offenders in England and Wales each year. Commenting on his appointment Colin Allars said: "Probation has a critical part to play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. I look forward to taking on this important role, keeping communities safe from serious offenders."

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: direct entry to the senior levels of the police force

In its response to their 'direct entry into the police' consultation, the Government remains committed to implementing fast track and direct entry schemes as they offer an opportunity to attract the best talent to the police, bringing in new skills and ideas from other professions; despite a proportion of respondents opposing the scheme. Read the full story here

FUNDING: for small, local organisations

Active Communities is a funding programme for community groups and not-for-profit organisations, with an income of less than £350,000 a year, that are seeking investment of between £5,000 and £50,000 for projects lasting up to two years. The projects should take place within a small area for a small group of people such as 20 or 30 streets or a couple of villages. The deadline for applications is midday on Wednesday 13th November 2013. It's not open in all areas of the country, but there's a postcode checker to quickly check if you can apply. Full details here

FUNDING: community safety in the South West

Two of the police and crime commissioners (PCC) in the South West have established funding pots to provide encouragement, incentive and practical support for the Sector to make people feel safer and reduce crime. PCC for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson, is commissioning community and voluntary initiatives through his £1 million Innovation Fund. Whilst the PCC for Devon and Cornwall, Tony Hogg, has a £200,000 pot of funding available for small, local community groups to apply for up to £5,000 each.

FUNDING: capital grants for arts organisations

Arts Council England's Small Capital Grants scheme is designed to benefit arts initiatives taking place in England, helping to make these projects more sustainable and resilient. Arts organisations in England can apply for a capital grant of between £100,000 and £499,999. Those that deliver arts activities which can engage people or help artists to carry out their work will be targeted. The deadline for applications is 19th December. Full details here

FUNDING: offender health

The Health Foundation's Shine programme focuses on aspects of healthcare quality that reflect key health issues in the UK. The aim is to find new approaches of delivering healthcare that achieve one of the following: improving the safety of patient care; supporting people to take a more active role in their own health and care; improving quality while reducing cost. Up to 40 projects will be selected and each project will run over 15 months which includes three months set up and a 12 month implementation period. The maximum award for each project is £75,000. All projects need to identify the costs and benefits of the intervention. The deadline for applications is 25th October 2013. Full details here

COMMISSIONING: alcohol services in Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council requires experienced providers to deliver Alcohol Tiers 2 & 3 Services covering the geographical area of Derbyshire with the exception of Derby City. The desired outcomes of the service include reductions in alcohol-related hospital admissions; alcohol-related morbidity and mortality; and alcohol-related crime. The estimated value of the four year contract is £510,000 per year. The deadline for applications is 13th November. Full details here

COMMISSIONING: ex-offender accommodation in the West Midlands

Wolverhampton City Council is seeking the provision of housing related support services for ex-offenders. The support will include both accommodation based and floating support services. The three year contract will be delivered across the City of Wolverhampton providing stage one emergency accommodation, stage two short to medium term, and stage three move-on and floating support. The deadline for applications is 11th November, and there is no contract value information provided. Full details here

COMMISSIONING: personality disorder services in prison

The local area office [Leicestershire and Lincolnshire] of NHS England is inviting bids for a 12 month contract with a 12 month extension option for Personality Disorder Services at HM YOI Swinfen and Male Adult Cat C HMP Wayland. NHS England are looking for a Lead Bidder to take full responsibility for the delivery of the aims and objectives of the Tender. The Tender is divided into 2 lots between Swinfen and Wayland. The Lead Bidder may bid for one or both of the Lots. The contract has a value range of beween £3m - £4m. The deadline for applications is 18th November. Full details here

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: good practice in commissioning

'Commissioning - finding a new way forward' is a Cymorth Cymru event [21st October, Llandrindod Wells, from £102] that will explore a variety of good practice examples of commissioning, with topics including: Commissioning for personalisation; Building community benefits into the procurement process for supported living contracts; Regional commissioning collaboratives; and Relationship-based approaches to commissioning. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: drug and alcohol recovery services

Are you interested in the development of drug and alcohol services in your local area, and the challenges and opportunities for ‘building for recovery’ at a time of significant policy changes? Clinks Member DrugScope is hosting a series of free regional summits to discuss the issues on behalf of the Recovery Partnership (DrugScope, the Recovery Group UK and the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium). The summits are 30th October, Leeds; 7th November, Norwich; and 13th November, Southampton. Find out more and book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: arts exhibition

'Reflections' [19th Ocober - 1st December, Gateshead] is the first showcase of artwork entered into the Koestler Awards from prisons, secure hospitals, secure children's homes and probation services in the North East of England. It is curated by students of the Behaviour Support Service, Gateshead. Find out more about exhibitions and seminars here

NON-MEMBERS' EVENTS AND TRAINING

  • 'Your Lightbulb Moment' | 30th October, Croydon | Details
  • 'Continuing Innovation and Effective Practice in Offender Learning' | 30th October, Manchester, free | Details

OPPORTUNITY: researcher needed

Clinks Member Birth Companions are now inviting tenders from individual researchers or a team of researchers to work in partnership with them to carry out research into the longer-term impact of their work, with vulnerable pregnant women and new mothers. Full details here

OPPORTUNITY: paid internship for an ex-offender

Elevation Networks have recently partnered with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) for England and Wales to offer ex-offenders a paid part time internship opportunity at the YJB's London Headquarters. Elevation Networks will be providing pre-employment training for potential candidates. This training will involve a CV workshop, interview techniques and also an open day on what the YJB does and the line of work they would be expected to do. Three candidates will be selected and will go forward for an interview with the YJB. One candidate will be selected for the internship. This will be a 3 month internship over 3 days a week. The intern salary is £14,924 p.a. pro rata plus London Location Allowance (£3,020). The first month travel expenses will be covered and the deadline for applications is 29th November. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S VACANCIES

New vacancies posted by Members this week include: a Prison and Post-release Support Worker with St Mungo’s [HMP Feltham], Trustee and Individual Giving and Communications Consultancy posts with Music in Detention [London], a Chair at Vision Housing [Surrey], 2 x Young Women’s Engagement Worker at the Together Women Project [Sheffield], an Assistant Head of Education at Clean Break [London], a Young Persons Worker with CRI [Mid Sussex/Crawley], a Housing Caseworker at St Giles Trust [HMP Wandsworth], Project Workers with Nacro [various locations] and an Office and Administration Manager at User Voice [London]. For further information about these posts and many more, please click here

TIPS OF THE WEEK

  • Tip of the week I: Looks like Aldi and Lidl have the best deals for fireworks this year, with packs starting from £5. Details
  • Tip of the week II: Download a free Halloween activity pack, including writing activities, recipe for Halloween Cookies, drawing activity word search, a scary poem to read. Great to keep kids quite for a bit and encourage creative writing. Details
  • Tip of the week III: Stay overnight at the Beaumont Estate, Windsor for £99 per room. Price includes dinner, breakfast and bottle of wine. Details

EXTRA INFORMATION

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Clinks

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