National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice News | March 2015

The newsletter for arts organisations working in criminal justice

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In this month's issue...

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National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice news

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Annual Meeting

On Thursday 26th February we held our Annual Meeting in London. We had a great turn out for the day, and a fantastic Q&A with Tim Robertson; CEO of the Koestler Trust and exiting National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice Chair, which was led by Fatima Dupres-Griffiths from Clean Break and has been recorded. The afternoon culminated in our annual Steering Group elections, and we are very pleased to welcome Selina Busby from the Central School of Speech and Drama and Zieda Ali from Project BME to the Steering Group. We also welcome back the Koestler Trust, who successfully stood for re-election this year. Thanks go to everyone who stood for election this year, and to all those who voted. Click here for more information on the event and to listen to the Q&A with Tim and Fatima. 

Exploring restorative justice through theatre on our blog

This month, on the National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice's blog, we posted an article written by Davina Cull, who is a mentee on our professional mentoring programme. Davina is the Project Manager for a Restorative Justice partnership called 'Make Amends' in Torbay. In the post, she discusses a project she managed which explored restorative justice through theatre. Click here to read the blog post.

Have you got something for the next newsletter?

The next newsletter will be sent on Thursday 30th April. Please email kate.davey@clinks.org with anything you would like included by Thursday 23rd April. 

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Events and training

'Illumination' at the Wales Millennium Centre

Until 13th April 2015 | Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff | Free

The Koestler Trust's 'Illumination' is an exhibition of artwork and creative writing from prisons, secure hospitals, and people on probation in Wales. Works on display have been selected from entries to the 2014 Koestler Awards; a charitable scheme that has been rewarding artistic achievement in the criminal justice sector for over 50 years. The exhibition has been curated by a group of women from Gibran UK; an organisation that supports ex-offenders across Wales. Click here for more information. 

Conference will explore impact and value of outreach and social inclusion activity for museums

17th April 2015 | Camberwell, London | £18.50 - £37 + VAT

The Outreach Europe conference is the culmination of a two year long collaboration between South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Elderberry AB in Sweden, and the Gaia Museum in Denmark which highlights good examples of outreach and social inclusion offered by museums and galleries throughout Europe. Based on the findings of the Outreach Europe project, the conference asks the question: what can we do to secure sustainable and reliable inclusion in the cultural sector? Click here to book. 

National Multiple Needs Summit

22nd April 2015 | Church House Conference Centre, London | £50

Collaboratively organised, this event will bring together a vibrant network of people taking action for society's most vulnerable. People facing multiple needs experience homelessness, substance misuse, mental health problems and contact with the Criminal Justice System. The coordinated support they need is rarely provided by services, which are often designed to deal with one problem at a time. The workshop programme on the day will be led and shaped by delegates and will cover issues such as: new models of service delivery, good practice in service user involvement, changing systems, and working with unusual partners. Click here for more information and to book. 

Resettlement of homeless people

20th May 2015 | Inmarsat Conference Centre, London | £185

'Empowering homeless people to make resilient and lasting life changes' is a Lemos&Crane conference that will look at new ways of going beyond accommodation, training and jobs, and bringing in other approaches to enhancing well-being, increasing community involvement and enjoying a fuller, more varied, contemporary life. Click here for more information. 

Arts, wellbeing and health: promoting good practice and evaluation

4th June 2015 | 28 Portland Place, London | £99 - £225

Organised by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) in association with the National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, this creative and interactive one day conference will use workshops and networking activities to explore the role of arts and music in health improvement. Following May's general election, this event provides the opportunity to reflect on the implications the outcome of the election has for the field. Click here for more information. 

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Arts and criminal justice news

Spirit of Achievement Arts and Culture Challenge Fund

The Spirit of 2012 Trust are looking for funding applications that will create opportunities for disabled people of all backgrounds to participate in arts and cultural activities; individually, and with their families and friends. They refer to arts and cultural activity in the broadest sense, and include visual art, craft, writing and literature, music, dance and performance arts in their definition. Grants of between £100,000 and £250,000 will be awarded over 2-3 years, and the Spirit of 2012 Trust are particularly keen to see partnerships coming forward, as well as inclusive opportunities for both disabled people and their families and friends. The deadline for applications is 20th April 2015. Click here for more information. 

What do criminal justice statistics tell us?

'The Criminal Justice System - what do the statistics tell us?' is a new blog from Nicola Drinkwater, Clinks' Policy Officer, which analyses a number of recent statistical reports from the Ministry of Justice. Nicola covers the population in custody, safety in prisons, and the effects of sentencing. "These statistics give us some indication of the current challenges within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and what the possible implications are for people in contact with the system. As the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms are embedded there will be keen interest from voluntary and statutory sector organisations as to what impact this will have on these statistics in the future." Read the full blog here. 

Bringing orchestras into prisons and young offender institutions 

Lemos&Crane, in partnership with Orchestras Live, are currently exploring the possibility of developing orchestral activities within custodial settings. If you are from a professional orchestra that has experience of, or aspirations to, work in prisons, or are someone in the management of a prison or young offender institution that would be interested in including music work with your prisoners in collaboration with an orchestra, then they would like to hear from you. Click here for more information. 

Supporting people with criminal convictions into employment

Do you support people with criminal records into training and employment? In a new guest blog on Clinks' website, Chris Procter from Nacro shares his experiences of supporting jobseekers with criminal records to make reassuring disclosures. The blog has practical guidance on supporting clients to construct written disclosure to statements, links to useful questions to ask for clients struggling with reading or writing, points to emphasise, and a suggested structure for disclosures. This blog aims to help you challenge negative attitudes among employers and address their concerns around the perceived risk of hiring someone with a criminal record. Read the blog here. 

Awards for community programmes

Nominations are open for The Howard League for Penal Reform's Community Programme Awards 2015. The Howard League are looking for the country's best and most successful community programmes which encourage desistance from crime. The awards will celebrate best practice in diversionary work and champion work in the community that challenges and changes people for the better. Award categories include: women; restorative justice; policing and adults; policing and children; policing and restorative justice; youth liaison and diversion; adult liaison and diversion; and criminal justice champion. The deadline for nominations is 29th April. Click here for more information. 

Arts Council England launches new advocacy toolkit

Arts Council England (ACE) has recently launched an advocacy toolkit for arts organisations. It features a range of guidance for organisations wishing to work with the media and policy-makers to make the case for the arts. Their toolkit is designed to help those wanting to reach out to audiences to tell a story about the value and impact of public investment in arts and culture, both from a local and national perspective. This, ACE has suggested, is increasingly important as we look towards a General Election in May, followed by a new government and a Spending Review shortly afterwards. Click here for more information on the toolkit. 

Safe Ground seek a Network Coordinator

Safe Ground, an organisation promoting social justice through drama, dialogue and debate, is looking for a dynamic Network Coordinator to support the delivery of its acclaimed programmes Family Man, Fathers Inside, and Man Up across a range of male prison establishments. The role combines operational problem solving and hands on training and facilitation opportunities. It is part time (21 hours a week) and includes extensive national travel. The deadline is 30th March 2015. Click here for more information. 

Koestler Awards 2015 deadline is fast approaching

The deadline for the 2015 Koestler Awards is 14th April 2015. Last year, the Koestler Trust received a record-breaking number of entries - 8,789 pieces of writing, music, film, fine art and design. The Awards offer a great chance for entrants to get their creative work seen or heard, get feedback, sell work, and have a share in over £30,000 of prizes. Click here for more information. 

Odd Arts looking for a Non-Executive Board Member (voluntary position)

Odd Arts, an organisation using specialist arts to challenge, inspire and transform the lives of vulnerable and excluded people, is looking to appoint a new member to their advisory board with specialisms in one of the following areas: academia and research; mental health or health; national youth sector. Their current board consists of members who cover specialisms in crime and justice, arts and community, business and finance, and politics and council agenda. The role would involve a two hour meeting once every six months, plus less formal email advice once every three months, or as necessary. For more information, email rebecca@oddarts.co.uk. 

More in arts and criminal justice...

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Resources and publications

Report calls for a plan to maximise cultural, economic and social return from the arts

The Warwick Commission on Cultural Value has issued its final report calling for a national plan for the arts which maximises cultural, economic and social return. 'Enriching Britain: Culture, Creativity and Growth' argues that the Cultural and Creative Industries are one entity, an ecosystem, which is becoming increasingly important to British Life, the British economy, and Britain's place in the world. It makes a range of recommendations as to how we can ensure everyone has access to a rich cultural education and the opportunity to explore their own creativity. Click here to read the report.  

Research report uses creative methods to explore what's important to offenders

Revolving Doors recently published 'A Good Life: Exploring what matters to people with multiple and complex needs.' The report explores which outcomes are prioritised by people with experience of offending and other issues. The researchers used 'creative inquiry' to explore the meaning of a good life for participants (all of whom had offending histories). Participants, who were recruited from Revolving Doors' National Service User Forum, all made a collage of their 'good life' and then discussed this in-depth with researchers. The report, which includes many of the collages, shows the importance of things like stability, positive relationships, and the journey towards the good life being as important as the destination. Click here to read the report.

Publication focusing on drugs in prison

'Drugs in prison' is a new report from think tank Centre for Social Justice that states a "three-pronged approach is needed to help people in prison recover from drug addictions: Drugs must be kept out of prisons; Demand for drugs must be reduced; Drug addicted prisoners must receive effective support into recovery. These three requirements are interdependent and failure in just one area will ultimately lead to a failure to tackle the prison drug problem." The report sets out the issues and investigates how each of those three requirements can be met. Download the report here. 

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This newsletter is written monthly by Kate Davey.

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Clinks manages the National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice and is the legally accountable body for all official National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice activity. Clinks is a registered charity registration no 1074546 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no 3562176