Victim Liaison Conference

Victim Liaison Conference
Mediation Support -Restorative Technology Ltd presentation followed this one on 15th July 2011

Saturday 1 May 2021

The Only Poll That Matters

The idea that “The only poll that matters is the General Election” needs serious questions as a #ToryCoup to #OustBoris develops:

Not so; #BorisIsMortallyWounded & is unlikely to see out his elected term of office, unless the #ToryCoup to #OustBoris is foiled by #RishiSunak refusing dialogue. Elementary mistake to think that Starmer’s polling is what counts more than RishiSunak’s, which is, of course, being done in secret. I offered generous odds on #BorisJohnson being out of office soon; that Facebook Advert/Boosted Post is doing the rounds of the #SouthEastCoast this weekend?: 
“The mistake the #lefties are making is to presume that #BorisJohnson is invulnerable until the unlikely day that #KierStarmer is more popular; actually, as with #MargaretThatcher the question is whether there’s a Tory who better protects the integrity of the “Conservative Brand”. The interview on #WorldAtOne during the week of Boris’s former boss, former head of the Telegraph, #MaxHastings, was painting the picture of Boris leaving #10DowningStreet to have an easier life (& richer one) as #BorisJohnsonPublicEntertainer. Even the #DailyMail put the knife into Boris twice this week, with front-page headlines about #BodiesPiledHigh-#gate and (my favourite headline since #FreddieStarrAteMyHamster; #BorisPaintedIntoACorner. Now it’s #CurtainsForBoris”
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1xtoPreqLeKoNO9nrPy1XfKeAld9GiF_4

Thursday 15 November 2012

Communities taking responsibility for the riots and crime in their area via YouTube, and twitter-fed Restorative Justice initiative in London


The title of this blog post is the front page of the Evening Standard that I am envisioning. Pipe dream? Maybe? Worth working on further; you bet!
Here, from 2010, is the start of the first iteration:

Jailbrake 2010 from The People Speak on Vimeo.

Friday 16 March 2012

Open and honest project review

Reporting back to NESTA on the Reboot Britain project Common Ground (as at jailbrake.org) which became SafeGround which was put in place in Devon Youth Offending Team as SafeSpace

What undermined the potential success of a prize-winning idea:
1) Low confidence by the pilot site's staff in the technology being straightforward enough & working well
2) Low levels of creativity in its use & an insufficiently shared vision by pilot site staff to prioritise its use above competing demands on the time of those staff.
3) A deficit either of active promotion by pilot site staff to users of the benefits or of the agreed record keeping about to whom it was being offered to & what their response was.
4) Unwillingness by the staff to change working practices so that those victims and offenders wanting to communicate are not necessarily accompanied in each stage of this communication by the physical presence of a mediator/ restorative justice practitioner.
5) A user group (victims and offenders) with a generally low level of commitment to communication with the related victim(s)/offender(s) for “their crime”.
6) A Restorative Technology Limited “Team” without the strength, focus, flexibility & resources to adjust well to the above factors.

And here's the fuller review of this first Restorative Technology Ltd  innovation in victim-offender-community-communication.
Thomas Edison tried many times before getting the electric light bulb good enough....

Restorative Technology Ltd mock recording of victim's concerns for uploading:

Wednesday 5 October 2011

1st anniversary of the Hastings Pier Fire -today

And here is the press piece about the meeting tonight:
http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/community/talks_to_mark_anniversary_of_pier_fire_1_3109033
And follow this link to the films shown and the films made from the participants.
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You have until the 23rd October, but please save me much stress & give another 2-4minutes now to registering & then voting for:
http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5827

-and how many friends/networks have you nudged/encouraged/ set-alight?
THIS HELPS SET UP THE TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION IN HASTINGS AND ST LEONARDS


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWQ7VNrlePs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Bringing award-winning technology to heal harm in St Leonards on Sea

The version of the victim-offender video-messaging system that is provided primarily for Sussex, though is also usable by anyone in the UK wanting a restorative process is www.peoplesjustice.org.uk
Restorative Technology Limited is now pleased to be working within the context of St Leonards Sharing Consortium: www.stleonardssharing.info

-and the full interview with Jo Nodding:

Friday 15 July 2011

Pan-London Victim Liaison Conference - the feedback after the SafeSpace presentation

This event was on 15th July 2011 event at the Met Police HQ in West Brompton and has led to a stream of YOT bookings for training in using SafeSpace (and discussing the associated practicve issues, risks of using it & the risks of not-using new technologies for restorative processes:


Wednesday 13 July 2011

SafeSpace screenshots with Victim Impact Statements as video-messages

Here's a presentation shown at the Restorative Justice Practitioners Network Day, 13th July 2011 on the Mediation Support Ltd stand.
Trainings available as below film:

Enhanced restorative practice
through moderated video messaging
and other electronic communications.


A training provided to YOTs, with a bespoke website available, arising from winning the 2010 Social Innovation Camp for the web/mobile technology most likely to reduce youth custody and youth offending.
The judges of www.jailbrake.org who awarded the work first prize were from:

  • The Youth Justice Board,
  • The Police Improvement Agency,
  • The Prison Reform Trust
  • Foyer Housing Federation.


The training is provided by Restorative Technology Ltd & Mediation Support Ltd Director, Paul Crosland.

The costs to have a day's training is usually just transport & accommodation; though with a YOT that might more easily become a partner agency using our video-messaging and text-messaging system, these costs will be waived.

For more clarification, ring Paul on 0780 70 66 202 or email

The blog about these innovations is at www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com and a parallel site to the YOT enabled site is provided for the residents of Hastings (in the wake of the fire on the Pier last October) on www.peoplesjustice.org.uk

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Be informed of what is a major potential for community-wide restorative processes, and make more informed decisions about the benefits and issues in offering a wider menu of communication options to your clients.
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Saturday 11 June 2011

Seeking clarity of the law in relation to mediating in the wake of no CPS charges eg Hastings Pier

> To Amber Rudd, MP
> House of Commons
>
> Dear Amber
>
> We met at your surgery this morning at Leonie's; which I came to in order to follow up my letter in 10th June Observer: "We need to act if we want justice" .
> I copy this letter to my work email, my sometime colleagues and to the chair of the HPWRT, in order that he may update the Trustees on this justice issue.
>
> A major obstacle to communication between those who were on the pier on 5th October 2011 and the wider community is the lack of clarity around the legal status of what they would disclose. Firstly, would the mediation service involved have an obligation to disclose certain information to the police? Secondly, would any attempt at communication -through whatever channels- risk prosecution? A letter from a minister, the attorney general and/or the CPS is what I'm seeking for clarification, so that I may then provide it to those who were on the pier that night, and we progress from there.
>
> Many victims and communities across the UK experience a lack of power when the CPS case is dropped pre-court or even a case collapsing in court. Enabling more "victims" in these circumstances to have recourse to mediation would be a great way forward in strengthening the Big Society. At present, it would be unlikely that any individuals who have <got-off> would risk communicating with their accusers, because the risks are not yet clear and the benefits of restorative justice processes are generally not well-communicated to those accused of crimes.
>
> As I said in my letter, it may be years before those on the pier that night are ready for the communication about what they did, why they did it and what they are going to do to address the impact on the community.
> This process will be further delayed if there is not the basic level of clarity for all involved in mediation about the legal position of the communications being had.
>
> Now that that communication is moving more to the internet, with "victims" uploading video statements and "offenders" uploading apology messages, it is more than timely for Hastings to lead in getting clarity around the legal position of internet communications involving mediation services.
>
> If there is to be no immunity from prosecution for things disclosed during a mediation/restorative justice process, at least all will know where they stand in their choices whether or not to answer the questions being asked of them by the community and take other reparative actions requested of them.
>
> Amongst those working with me to get communications to those on the pier that night is Ray Chapman, HPWRT chair; a video of his to these individuals having just been published (9th May) on http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com
>
> This matter will hang over a number of lives for some-time to come, so clarity is for the well-being of all.
>
> I omitted to ask you this morning for any advice on the funding opportunities for voluntary sector and social enterprise work in restorative justice, seeking, as does the best work, in my opinion to:
> -repair harm
> -restore dignity
> & re-integrate into a community that cares.
> (The reduced offending evidence is clear and available separately.)
> My funding from the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts to pursue the video messaging and mediated text-based messaging sits under the name heading Restorative Technology Ltd. This funding is almost at an end, yet my passion to build dialogue about what kinds of justice we want in the community in which we live does not run out.
>
> Yours sincerely
> Paul Crosland
>
> CEO, Mediation Support Ltd
> Southwater Area Community Centre,
> 2 Stainsby Street,
> St Leonards On Sea,
> East Sussex,
> TN37 6LA
>
> SUBSCRIBE to free updates from Mediation Support Ltd: http://www.mediationsupport.info/subscribenewsletter.html

Friday 10 June 2011

Hastings Pier Fire grievance - does Restorative Technology fit yet?

Today's watershed: Will an allegedly aggrieved local population take the opportunity to use the SafeGround idea?


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And please TELL anyone who may have any kind of difficulty with another person that they could get a free 'conflict make-over' -or powerful new perspective on what's perpetuating any problem & how to move forward- in just 30 minutes on-line via   www.telephonemediation.org.uk
(a UK-wide service run by Mediation Support Ltd)
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Life's short; compose your quarrels. (from The Dhammapada)