Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 672 | 19th February 2021

Light Lunch

In this week's edition...

CLINKS STATEMENT: small organisations shut out of probation contracts

Clinks published a statement on the lack of opportunities for voluntary organisations to deliver services under the new probation model. So far, only 4 of the 17 contracts starting in June will be delivered by voluntary organisations - clear evidence that concerns voiced by Clinks alongside others are not being heard. We have high hopes for the contracts still to be announced - including to deliver personal wellbeing and women's services. However, it remains to be seen if the government will level the playing field so voluntary organisations can play their full part. Read our full statement here

CLINKS BLOG: the commissioning of future probation services

This blog from Policy Officer Will Downs 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. The competition for day-one services under the reformed probation model has been conducted centrally by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service through the Dynamic Framework. As the reunified probation service comes into place from June, responsibility for commissioning services will lie with the Regional Probation Director appointed in each National Probation Service region. Find out more here

CLINKS BLOG: 77 organisations awarded grants

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/Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. We have now distributed a total of £463,500 since the programme began, supporting 77 organisations with 90 grants. Half of the grants awarded in this round went to organisations led by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME*) individuals and 11 supporting work specifically targeted at BAME communities or groups with protected characteristics. Read more here

CLINKS NEWS: vaccinations in prison

The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) special interest group on Covid-19 held a meeting with NHS England and Innovation to discuss the roll-out of the vaccination programme across the prison estate. Though Clinks has called for all people living and working in prison to be vaccinated as a priority, the current policy is for people in prison to be vaccinated in line with priority groups in the community. The RR3 is a formal advisory group to the government consisting of leaders from across the voluntary sector working in criminal justice. The special interest group on Covid-19 will meet again next week to discuss attitudes to vaccinations amongst people in the criminal justice system. Read the notes from the last meeting here

NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE ARTS ALLIANCE NEWS: bursary scheme now open

The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) is pleased to announce that the 2021 bursary scheme is now open to arts practitioners working in criminal justice settings looking to develop their practice. The bursary is a cash grant of up to £500 designed to support arts practitioners in criminal justice settings to access what they need to learn, grow and sharpen their practice. Bursaries can be used to pay for training or other costs associated with developing skills and knowledge or to remove obstacles to accessing those opportunities. TiPP is supporting NCJAA to deliver the 2021 bursary scheme. The deadline to apply is 15th March. Find out more and apply here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: a new approach for young adults

Revolving Doors, with the support of Lankelly Chase, has published a new collection of eight essays that explore how poverty, trauma and structural disadvantage create and perpetuate multiple disadvantage. The essays seek to encourage us, as service providers, policymakers, researchers and people with lived experience, to engage with the real complexities in people’s lives to start to unpick the knots between poverty, trauma and multiple disadvantage. There will be a webinar launch for the collection [25th February, online, free] where contributors will discuss and debate their essays and consider approaches for moving forward. Read the collection here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: LGBT+ people in prison

A new report by Fernando Lannes Fernandes, Rebecca Kaufmann, and Karen Kaufmann at University of Dundee, shines a spotlight on current policy and practice regarding LGBT+ people in prison in England and Scotland. Supported by Barrow Cadbury Trust it focuses on a wide spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities and presents a wide range of personal testimony and voices. The research looks at how individual attitudes and social interactions, institutional policies and structures might be shaped by discrimination and lack of understanding, and how this influences the experiences of LGBT+ people in custody. Read the report here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: information assurance and cyber security support - update

Organisations who applied to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for free access to information assurance and cyber security consultancy last year and have been successful will be contacted shortly with further information. This opportunity was offered in October 2020 (with a deadline of 18th December) to organisations that had qualified onto the probation Dynamic Framework and have an annual income of less than £1 million. Unfortunately, there were some delays in getting consultants in place, but these should now be available shortly so MoJ will be contacting successful organisations to arrange a meeting with consultants. Anyone with queries may contact df_infosec_support@justice.gov.uk. You may also contact Clinks at probation@clinks.org

FUNDING: funders commit to being more open and trusting

Fifty funders have promised to be more open and trusting and make grants in a way that reflects the realities facing charities and social enterprises. As part of the #FlexibleFunders commitment, they will also manage those grants in a way that reflects the confidence they have in organisations they fund. The campaign has been coordinated by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR), in collaboration with London Funders and a small group of UK foundations and charities. It builds on a pledge circulated by London Funders at the beginning of the pandemic. For funders who sign up to eight commitments, IVAR has said it is creating a community for dialogue, debate and challenge on the details of day-to-day practice, involving both funders and charities. Read more here

FUNDING: homelessness

Grants up to £5,000 from the Help the Homeless Grant Scheme for capital projects are available to small and medium-sized charities registered in the UK working to assist homeless people to rebuild their lives and return to the community. Help the Homeless provides funding for charitable organisations with the aim of helping homeless people return to the community and enabling them to rebuild their lives. Funding is targeted at projects to find practical ways to help disadvantaged individuals return to the community through training or residential facility provision, rather than merely providing short term shelter. Find out more and apply by 15th March here

FUNDING: rights and justice

Grants are available from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) - Rights and Justice Programme to support projects aimed at growing public support and empathy for the rights of racial and religious minorities, to hold governments to account and to strengthen the hand of those advocating with and for these communities. JRCT welcomes applications from civil society organisations that tackle injustices faced by racial and religious minorities, in particular, by Muslim communities, Roma, Gypsies and Travellers, as well as broader anti-racist work. At this time of crisis, JRCT is keen to support work that responds to the dual harms of the Covid-19 pandemic and systemic racism. To apply, register online by 5th March 2021 and apply by 22nd March. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: research workshops

As part of the development of a script for a short film to be distributed in prisons, Imagine If Theatre is hosting two one-hour workshops [2nd March, online, free] with people who work in the criminal justice system and people with lived experience. As with all of its work, Imagine If wants to make sure that the film is relatable, relevant and truthful and the research workshops will help it to achieve this. The workshops will be fun and aimed at getting your creative juices flowing and a chance to have your voice listened to about your experience of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice practitioners can book a place here. People with lived experience of the criminal justice system can book a place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: Rod Clark

At this Wednesday webinar [3rd March, online, free] from the Prisoner Learning Alliance, Rod Clark will look back on his eight years as CEO of Prisoners' Education Trust (PET) before stepping down in April 2021. During Rod’s time as CEO, PET has funded over 16,000 courses for people in prison, reaching a landmark 40,000 awards in 2018. During this webinar, Rod will talk about what he has found so rewarding in the role, some of his highlights, and his hopes for the future of prison education. The event will be chaired by PET trustee Patrick Diamond, senior lecturer in public policy at Queen Mary University. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: reimagining ‘justice’ for children

To celebrate its launch, the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) is holding an event [3rd March, online, free] asking the question‘How can we reimagine ‘justice’ for children?’. The discussion will be led by an expert panel including Gavin McKenna of Reach Every Generation, Nadine Smith of Leaders Unlocked, Shadae Cazeau of Equal, and John Drew, social change activist and previous Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board, who will explore 'justice' through themes of children’s rights, access, equity, and participation. Find out more and book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: panel with David Lammy

Nacro is hosting a panel event, ‘A justice system fit for the future: leaving prison, reoffending and Covid-19’ [4th March, online, free] with the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor, Rt. Hon. David Lammy MP. This discussion will focus on the Labour Party’s view on re-offending and the support required by prison leavers, the impact of Covid-19 and the upcoming probation reunification. There is an opportunity to submit questions to the speakers before the event via the event webpage. Find out more and book here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: Covid-19 in prisons

The Centre from Crime and Justice Studies is hosting a webinar exploring strategies for preventing infection and death from Covid-19 in prisons [17th March, online, free]. The event will discuss: what we have learnt about how to manage pandemics in prisons here and abroad; what went right and what went wrong; what could have been done differently; and what an ideal strategy would look like. Speakers include: Professor Richard Coker, Emeritus Professor of Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Dr. Alves da Costa, working for WHO EURO Health, Alcohol, Illicit Drugs and Prison Health Programme; and Professor Nick Hardwick, Professor of Criminal Justice, Royal Holloway University. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S TRAINING: welfare benefits and Covid-19

The South Yorkshire Frontline Network, part of the St Martin-in-the-fields Frontline Network, is hosting a two-hour training session with the Child Poverty Action Group looking at welfare benefits and how they have been impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic [1st March, online, free]. This training is free for staff working with people experiencing homelessness in the public, voluntary and statutory sectors within South Yorkshire (Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham). Find out more and sign up here

CLINKS MEMBER’S TRAINING: safer recruitment

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s five-session training course ‘Safer recruitment – train the trainer online workshop' [6th – 12th May, online, £1,500 +VAT] is designed for people who wish to become safer recruitment trainers. Attendees will acquire skills, confidence and be equipped with up-to-date exercises and materials to obtain accredited status as a safer recruitment trainer, to help ensure schools and other settings receive good quality safer recruitment training to protect children, prevent abuse and meet their safeguarding obligations. Successful participants will be able to enrol on the Safer Recruitment Consortium’s register of accredited Safer Recruitment Trainers and be able to deliver Safer Recruitment training events to professionals. Find out more here

FEATURED VACANCY: Creative Psychotherapist

Belong is looking to recruit a Creative Psychotherapist [£32,700 pro rata, HMP Feltham/remote, part-time] to join its Me Time service, developed in response to Covid-19. It offers remote and in-person short-term emotional well-being support and medium-term psychotherapeutic support to young people aged 15-21 who are leaving custody, or serving sentences in the community. This position provides an exciting opportunity for a reliable, organised, energetic, qualified psychotherapist to join Belong's team. The successful applicant will have at least two years’ experience of delivering psychotherapy within the youth justice sector, the prison service or a related sector. They will deliver group and one-to-one psychotherapy interventions to young people at HMP/YOI Feltham and to young people in the community. Find out more and apply by 10th March here

CLINKS MEMBERS’ VACANCIES

Senior Justice Link Worker with Single Homeless Project [London], Assistant Support Worker with Changing Lives [Gateshead], Senior Support Worker with Imagine Independence [Lancashire], County Lines Caseworker with St Giles Trust [home based with travel], Connecting Community Coordinator with Humankind [HMP Holme House], Partnerships Manager with Working Chance [London], Volunteer Coordinator with PLIAS Resettlement [Brent], Participation Associate with Clean Break [London], Support Worker with Nacro [Bournemouth and Poole], Fundraising Development Manager with Action West London [London], Operations Manager with AVision for Empowerment CIC [Birmingham]. For more information about these vacancies, and many more, click here

TIPS OF THE WEEK

  • Afternoon tea box delivery. £19. Details
  • Air-purifying houseplant collection. £17.50. Details
  • 4 pack of fluorescent stress balls. £4.99. Details

EXTRA INFORMATION

*We acknowledge that the term BAME can be problematic as it refers to a group of people who are far from homogenous. The intersection of race, ethnicity, faith, and culture makes social identities multi-faceted and shifting – the experiences of individuals within these groups will vary. Wherever possible, we seek to be specific when describing groups of people but at times use the term BAME – albeit reluctantly – to describe inequality and discrimination across groups when necessary.

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