Membership

Do you work with people affected by the criminal justice system or their families?

Do you support people in the criminal justice system? 

Clinks supports, promotes and represents voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Our members are at the heart of what we do.

Clinks membership offers you a voice to influence change, practical assistance to be effective and resilient and support from a community of like-minded professionals. Join our network of over 600 voluntary organisation members, from unstaffed community groups to the largest providers.

Be heard

Clinks provides a collective voice for voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system. We have an ongoing dialogue with our members who share with us their experiences and views. We make evidence based recommendations for change. 

Influence decision makers

We respond to government and influential stakeholders. We meet regularly with the Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office and the Home Office, submit responses and represent members on influential bodies. 

Stay informed and up-to-date

Clinks provides concise, targeted information, so you can stay up-to-date quickly and easily. Our ebulletins deliver criminal justice news, events, resources and guidance. We also publish specialist ebulletins covering criminal justice policy, and health and justice news.

Share good practice

We collate our members’ expertise, identify and share key lessons and knowledge. We celebrate our members’ successes and highlight their work in case studies.

Be effective and resilient

We advise, support and signpost to sources of further information, enabling you to provide the best opportunities for your staff and the people you engage with:

• Discounted training and events which inform, engage and promote discussion on topical issues 
• Advertise your job vacancies on our popular jobs board
• Get exclusive offers with our partner organisations.

Network

Clinks brokers partnerships and develops networks. Through our online directories, you can identify potential partners, mentoring support and services supporting people in the criminal justice system. 

Share your news with our extensive communications network, which reaches over 11,000 people working in the criminal justice system, through our ebulletins and social media activity.

Share experiences and problem solve with like-minded professionals at our events and through our specialist networks for service user involvement managers, women’s organisations and those that work with the arts – the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance provides an engaging and dynamic network for voluntary organisations working in criminal justice and the arts.

Browse our full range of member benefits for full members and associate members

Member advisory forum

The member advisory forum enables Clinks to bring member organisations together to share knowledge, challenges and best practice. This enables Clinks to best understand and support the development of its members to deliver the highest-level impact for the people they exist for. The forum is integral to the ways we measure how we are meeting our strategic objectives, how we understand the current challenges our members face and what the sector needs from its membership body.

We have built a space which is representative of the sector in terms of the areas and types of work that voluntary organisations working in criminal justice do. The forum adds to the existing ways that we involve our members in our work, building on our regional and thematic networks, and our use of intelligence from our members in our policy work and consultation responses. You can find out more about the forum by reading our full terms of reference here. We publish the meeting notes of all member advisory forum meetings on our Publications page.

To view the advisory forum members click here.

If you are interested in joining the forum, or would like to find out more, email membership@clinks.org. 

What our members say

“Clinks is hugely valuable, creating a consistent voice that can have more impact on politicians, decision-makers and stakeholders on policy.”  - Langley House Trust

“Clinks gives us a real insight into what is going on in the criminal justice system and that’s really helpful to us.” - Prisoners Abroad

“The most important thing that Clinks provides to small voluntary organisations, like ourselves, is the voice.” - Lincolnshire Action Trust

“Clinks brings everybody together under the umbrella and provides events and training. It really helps us feel part of a wider community.” - Shannon Trust

Membership types and pricing

Full membership

Full membership is for non-profit organisations that support our aims and uphold the values that Clinks has. Please read the Shared Expectations section at the bottom of the page.

• Your fee is proportionate to the size of your organisation. This eases the burden on smaller organisations.
• We have raised the income threshold so that organisations with under £250k income per year will pay nothing. This was previously £30k.
• Specialist organisations (defined below) with under £500k income per year won't pay anything, reflecting our particular support and commitment to smaller and specialist organisations.
• Clinks membership year starts from 1st April every year. If you’re eligible to pay a small fee, organisations joining part way through the year will be invoiced on a pro-rata basis.

Our membership charging bands are based on an organisation’s published income figures and are:

Definitions of specialist organisations

Associate membership

Associate membership is for those who agree with our aims, but are either individuals or not non-profit organisations, including public or private sector employees.