National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance News | November 2016

The newsletter for arts organisations working in criminal justice

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In this month's issue...

National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance news
Events and training
Arts and criminal justice news
Resources & publications

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National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance news
Shutter stories: prison life through the lens

Our Anne Peaker lecture will focus this year on the use of photography and film in criminal justice settings, looking at how different media can reveal life behind prison doors, and how film and photography can be powerful tools for sharing stories. The event, happening on the evening of 7th December in London, will see artist and photographer Edmund Clark share his experience of being the Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon, and how working in the prison has influenced his creative practice. Edmund's lecture will be followed by a panel discussion looking at questions surrounding the use of media in criminal justice settings. The panel will include Rashmi Becker, PhD student at the University of Cambridge who is working on a photobook of people with learning disabilities in the Criminal Justice System, Carlotta Allum, Founder and Director of Stretch Charity, and Raheel Mohammed, Founder and Director of Maslaha. Click here to book your place.

Open Clasp performance of Key Change at the Houses of Parliament

In our latest blog post, Chair of the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance Alison Frater talks about a collaborative event at the Houses of Parliament on 25th October. The event came at a time when ministers were considering options for their reform agenda for the Criminal Justice System, and sought to help parliamentarians and policy makers to fully understand the complex journey many women face when they come into contact with courts and prisons. The event, which saw a performance of Open Clasp's 'Key Change' followed by a panel discussion, was hosted by the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance in conjunction with Clinks, the Prison Reform Trust and Agenda: Alliance for Women and Girls at Risk. Click here to read the blog.

All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing

On 8th November, the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance co-hosted the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) round table on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, in the Criminal Justice System. The meeting was one in a series of round tables in which practitioners, academics, policy makers, those with lived experience and managers of services are invited to share their knowledge and experience with parliamentarians. The information gathered will be used to inform policy recommendations for the Inquiry into Arts, Health and Wellbeing. You can find out more about the APPG and the Inquiry by clicking here.

Want to include something in the next newsletter?

We will be sending a slightly shorter newsletter next month on Thursday 15th December. Please email kate.davey@clinks.org with any submissions by Tuesday 6th December.

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Events and training
The Forgiveness Project's 6th annual lecture

2nd December 2016 | Royal Geographical Society, London | £15 (£8 concessions)

Award winning poet Lemn Sissay MBE will deliver the key note speech 'The Quality of Mercy' at the Forgiveness Project's annual lecture. The lecture, chaired by activist and author Melissa Benn, will be the first to reflect the charity's broadened vision to explore not only the extremes of forgiveness but also the kind of unresolved resentments that fester within families and across generations. Lemn Sissay will be joined in discussion by Rachel Kelly, a writer, ambassador and mental health activist, and Mathew Shurka, a survivor of 'conversion therapy', and now a national spokesperson and globally recognised activist working to end practices in conversion therapy. Click here for more information and to book a place.

Clinks' Regional Policy Forum

28th November and 8th December 2016 | Exeter and Liverpool | Free

These regional forums will help local organisations stay informed and up to date with new developments in criminal justice policy and give you the opportunity to inform Clinks' national policy work. The forums will focus on prisons and influencing local strategic partnerships as well as including an overview of national policy developments from the Clinks policy team and an update from the national Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) meeting which Minister for Prisons and Probation Sam Gyimah is attending. Click here to book a place.

Beating the Odds: celebrating the value of participatory arts for young people

16th December 2016 | University of Sussex, Brighton | Free

This event is a festive evening of performance, exhibition and research celebrating the value of participatory arts for young people which will be held at the refurbished Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts from 6 - 9.30pm. The event will celebrate work by various creative arts organisations working with researchers from the interdisciplinary Centre for Research in Creative and Performing Arts and the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth at the University of Sussex. The evening will include a creative mix of performance by Glyndebourne Youth Opera and the Miss Represented project at the Brighton Dome, and an exhibition of young people's art from other groups. There will also be information available about relevant research as well as a panel discussion. The event is free, but booking is essential. Click here for more information.

The Other Side of the Wall training

22nd - 24th March 2017 and 26th - 28th April 2017 | Birmingham and Edinburgh | £330

Led by Geese Theatre Company, the Other Side of the Wall is a three-day course on the use of theatre and drama with offenders and young people at risk of offending. Participants will experience and practice a variety of drama-based methods for use in group work, while exploring some of the basic principles behind Geese's work. No previous drama or theatre experience is necessary; however a willingness to actively explore new methods of working is an essential requirement. Click here for further information.

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Arts and criminal justice news
Liz Truss must turn to the voluntary sector if she wants to reform prisons

Clinks' CEO Anne Fox has written a piece for the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network on the important role of the voluntary sector in new reforms. She wrote: "There needs to be a whole system view - diversion, sentencing, prison experience, but crucially how prisons and probation link with the ecosystem of support in our communities to rehabilitate and resettle people effectively." Click here to read the article.

Clinks survey: have your voice heard

Clinks' State of the Sector survey is your chance to tell your story and help Clinks influence decision makers. The survey is vitally important as it helps the membership organisation evidence the challenges you and your beneficiaries are experiencing and share your success. Please take 25 minutes to provide information about your organisation's criminal justice work, staffing, volunteers, beneficiaries and your experiences of partnership working. The deadline for responses is 16th December. Click here to complete the survey.

Clinks' Annual Review 2015 - 2016

Clinks' Annual Review is now online as an interactive webpage. Clinks exists to support and promote the invaluable work of the voluntary sector in the Criminal Justice System. The voluntary sector has a long and rich history of supporting people to rehabilitate and resettle, supporting their families and communities, and at the same time questioning systems and advocating for positive reform. The online page features an interactive timeline of the voluntary sector in criminal justice, and you can watch six videos featuring members and stakeholders sharing their thoughts on what 'just and affordable rehabilitation' looks like. Click here to visit the interactive webpage.

Learning Together: International Day of Prison Education

On 13th October, the University of Cambridge's programme Learning Together held an event at HMP Brixton to mark the International Day of Prison Education. The project, led by Dr Amy Ludlow and Dr Ruth Armstrong, aims to match universities with prisons to bring together students from outside and within prison to learn alongside one another. Their initial project enabled University of Cambridge criminology students and students at HMP Grendon to learn criminology together over an eight week programme, with the first cohort graduating together in 2015. There are now several other university and prison pairings, and the hope is the project will expand further. For more information please click here.

Diversity in audiences - what needs to change?

Should more be done to increase the diversity of those engaging with the arts in the UK? And if so, what? In a new report, Frances Richens looks at the findings from Arts Professional's latest Pulse survey with a focus on audiences. Frances concludes that despite a strong desire to attract a greater diversity of people to attend and participate in the arts, there remains a lot of conjecture and fear surrounding the programming of so-called 'diverse' work and what effect it might have on existing audiences. The barriers to engagement for those currently underrepresented in arts audiences appear to be numerous and deeply ingrained, and the sector acknowledges that a sustained, long-term effort focused on outreach and education is required to shift the perceptions of those who believe the arts are 'not for them.' Click here to read more.

Diversity and digital innovation supported through Ambition for Excellence

Four organisations across England will receive a total of £2.3m from Arts Council England's Ambition for Excellence programme in the latest round. The fund is aimed at stimulating and supporting ambition, talent and excellent across the arts sector in England and seeks to support the development of strong cultural places; grow and develop talent and leadership in the regions; and give an international dimension to excellent work. The four projects are Watershed Arts, Manchester International Festival, Project Art Works, and Newcastle Gateshead Initiative. Click here for more information.

Brighton Dome's Miss Represented has been awarded a Big Lottery Fund grant

Miss Represented is a multi-disciplinary arts collective working with young women facing challenging life situations and has become a lifeline to its members. Achievements include collaborating with award-winning rapper Plan B, appearing on BBC Radio 1xtra, a cross art theatre show investigating forgiveness and friendship, a retrospective exhibition celebrating International Women’s Day and sell-out performances of Home: Life exploring experiences of being young and homeless. Over the next two years Miss Represented will be expanding, reaching more young people as they create a brand new piece of work to take on tour, visiting schools, theatres, Pupil Referral Units and universities. Click here for more information.

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Resources & publications
Creative and credible evaluation for arts, health and wellbeing

This new paper reports findings from a one-year UK knowledge exchange project completed in 2015. Stakeholders' experiences of evaluation were explored in order to develop online resources to strengthen knowledge and capacity within the arts and health sector. The project grew out of a long-standing collaboration between a university and a leading arts and health consultancy focused on improving evaluation in the arts, health and wellbeing sector. Click here for more information.

Young adults in the Criminal Justice System: change in policy needed

Dealing effectively with young adults while the brain is still developing is crucial for them in making successful transitions to a crime-free adulthood, says a report by the Justice Select Committee. Research from a range of disciplines strongly supports the view that young adults are a distinct group with needs that are different both from children under 18 and adults older than 25, underpinned by the developmental maturation process that takes place in this age group. The Justice Select Committee decided to examine this issue following concerns raised about the effectiveness of treatment of young adults in the Criminal Justice System. Click here to read more.

This newsletter is written monthly by Kate Davey.

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