Executive Director for External Affairs at Changing Lives, Laura Seebohm, talks about the impact of deprivation, discrimination and trauma on people’s lives. She explores a radical re-imagining of how we can better support the mental health of people going through challenging times.

This blog provides updates on the government's approach to vaccinations in prisons, current progress of the vaccination programme and ways of responding to vaccine hesitancy among people in the criminal justice system.

Kate Morrissey introduces the RECONNECT service and explains how it was developed in consultation with people with lived experience and voluntary sector organisations.

This blog details the journey Good Vibrations went through during the pandemic and how it adapted to the changing restrictions.

Zahra Wynne reflects on our recent event on diversity in service user involvement, including speakers from Maslaha and Revolving Doors Agency.

Clinks has awarded a further £163,500 to 32 voluntary sector organisations working with individuals in contact with the criminal justice system, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)/Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

This blog summarises key information on how future services under the reformed probation model will be commissioned, and how these plans may affect voluntary organisations and their service users.

We welcome the Ministry of Justice’s announcement that it will provide additional funding to support prison leavers into temporary accommodation and to prevent rough sleeping.

Clinks is highly disappointed in the plans to expand the women’s prison estate with an additional 500 places to be built into existing prisons. The decision contradicts the intentions of the government’s female offender strategy.

With the Covid-19 pandemic still ongoing, further lockdowns in response and a number of major changes set to take place in the criminal justice system this year, we recap on our work in the run up to the new year to influence policy and practice and reflect on our priorities going forward.