Campaigns that foster an ‘us v them’ mentality leave lasting scars, as we’ve found to our cost during Brexit, election contests around the world and recent clashes on climate and migration. Hardly surprising then that some (though by no means all) campaigners are searching for approaches that don’t demonise opponents or risk deepening divisions.

‘Martin’ (not his real name) completed a course in restorative practice with us in partnership with the Lived Experience Advisory Forum (LEAF) in Oxford. In this article, he shares why restorative practice is important in the homelessness and housing sector.

Like all Shakespeare’s comedies, Much Ado about Nothing begins with a disturbance in society and broken relationships that need restoring, even before matters become more complicated for the characters. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick are at odds with one another in what is  called a “merry war” by their friends, but in a personal situation that runs deeply into some hurt in the past that is never made clear.

It was great to hear speakers at our recent conference explore different dimensions – and benefits – of relational leadership.  Warm thanks to Ruth Cane, Dr Nomahaza Mahadi and Rita Symons for sharing insights on this important topic.  Here are some of my ‘top takeaways.’ It would be great to hear top takeaways from others.

We’ve heard much in recent days about growth, largely defined as infrastructure projects, industrial strategy, inward investment and ‘spades in the ground.’

There is, though, another side to growth about which we’ve heard much less. That’s the growth achieved by making sure that no-one’s written off and everyone is helped to achieve their full potential.

We recently had a great discussion with colleagues from Oxfordshire County Council about the value and use of silence in restorative practice.  

As Chair of Oxford Urban Wildlife Group for the last 5 years I have been privileged to be part of an amazing team of volunteers who are passionate about stewardship of a wonderful 3 acre nature reserve in the midst of East Oxford Boundary Brook Nature Reserve.  The habitats in the reserve were created in the 1990's, when the group took over the lease, of what was once abandoned allotment land.

It’s becoming commonplace to say that our public services are broken. An event late last week where the focus was on special educational needs and disabilities brought home vividly what ‘broken services’ mean in practice for families desperate for help and those looking to provide this – realities further underlined by today’s National Audit Office report.

Many people know me as an Accredited Family Mediator with an interest in how our life experiences impact us in the mediation room. However, not many people will know that I am also a Trustee at The Mint House which is the Oxford Centre for Restorative Practice, and I can deliver training in restorative practice for people working in criminal justice or other settings.

Growing up in the 1960s and 70s in what would these days be called a ‘blended family’, I was by turns the youngest child, eldest child and middle child in a complex, ever-evolving tangle of parents and siblings. Perhaps this explains why, as a writer, I’ve always been so interested in family dynamics and family conflict. Visible or not, these themes run like stubborn threads through nearly all my writing, even in works that superficially have little in common.

Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night opens, like all his comedies, with a situation in which relationships are already disturbed or broken, and in which characters feel a profound sense of loss. The play ends with some restoration of relations and a partial establishing of justice, but we are acutely aware that the process of restorative justice is far from complete. All is not a happy-ever-afterwards.

Recently a burst of spontaneity while in Manchester saw us heading to a preview performance of Lynn Nottage’s prize-winning play, Sweat at the Royal Exchange Theatre, itself an icon of reinvention and creativity.

Why me? want to see a world where people affected by crime know what Restorative Justice is, know how to access it and can readily explore whether it might be suitable for them with a trained expert. 

Last week colleagues from around England and Wales - Blackley to Barry, Hull to Hotwalls (Portsmouth) and points between - came together for two days for a fascinating conversation about how restorative practice can become embedded in communities.

It was good to welcome Dr Steve Kirkwood to a recent Mint House network event, where he shared findings from his recent research looking at the potential of restorative justice (RJ) in addressing the harms created by the asylum system?  

The Mint House was grateful and delighted to receive funding from Westhill for a twelve-month programme of research and practice dialogues, exploring challenges and creative opportunities for embedding restorative practice across diverse sectors and in faith institutions.  We think there’s much to be done in this area that can help foster healthy relationships, strengthen connections and prevent and resolve conflict. 

Really good to see the recent publication of a systematic review looking at participant and facilitator experiences of restorative justice interventions in the forensic secure estate. The review was carried out by Kathryn Rowsell, Kirsty Pegg, Pete Wallis and Richard Barker, two of whom (Kathryn and Pete) are Mint House trustees.

If you are looking for some reading for the new year or looking for those last minute gift ideas,  there is a newly published book on restorative practice.

Many thanks to Alison (Newbon) and Brigitte (Hyde) for joining a recent Mint House network event to share Norfolk’s journey to embed restorative practice. Here are some of the things they touched on.

Can you imagine what a restorative pub quiz would look like? Well, having taken on the job of setting and running one, I am struggling. The problems are many. My enjoyment of a pub quiz comes from my competitive nature, the prospect of winning and the chance to show off my esoteric and admittedly useless, knowledge of trivia. These are not the aspects of my personality of which I am most proud.

We recently shared on social media how restorative justice may be expressed through creative arts, and one of the resources mentioned was ‘Reimagining Justice,’ a virtual restorative justice art show hosted in 2020 by the National Center on Restorative Justice at Vermont Law School. 

This first piece explores why we are called “The Mint House”. If this interests you, read on. The building in which the Mint House was launched in 2015 – and from which we operate when we need a physical space – is alleged to have been the temporary location for the Royal Mint of King Charles I during the English Civil War in the 1640s.

It’s the season of summer book recommendations. In that spirit, we thought it would be good to share some books for younger children that contributors to our recent restorative parenting podcast said they’d found especially helpful in helping children develop emotional vocabulary and opening up conversations about emotions.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet begins like a comedy, with the first half of the play filled by light-hearted banter, but it ends as a tragedy with the waste of two young lives. Viewed through the lens of the modern ‘restorative justice’ movement, the situation cries out for a restorative justice process throughout most of the play, and shows the first steps being taken in this direction only at the very end. For the story is of two families alienated from one another, nursing ancient grievances which they feel to be real, but which are never actually spoken about and faced openly together.

Biases are all around us. They’re part of the human condition, developed over millenia and there for a reason, making life easier in many cases. At the same time, we need to be alive and alert to how biases affect our decision-making when preparing for and facilitating restorative encounters.

Over the past couple of months, Crystena Parker-Shandal, Justine Andreu Darling, Lindsey Pointer, and I have gathered for a series of conversations on our reflections and journeys in incorporating restorative principles in our family lives. It has been so encouraging to connect with other like-minded parents and to discuss the joys and challenges of living restoratively and modelling restorative justice and practice with our children.

Restorative Justice (RJ) has the power to change the lives of all those affected by crime. Why me?’s ambassador stories are powerful examples of its impact on individuals. To promote evidence based decision making, these stories need to be combined with data and research on the economic impact of Restorative Justice.

It was great to join people from all ‘corners’ of the criminal justice system at a research symposium hosted by the Criminal Justice Alliance for some thought-provoking talks and conversations on the theme of improving trust in the criminal justice system.

Reasons to be gloomy and glimmers of hope: these were my main take aways from the Mint House session recently on ‘Restorative justice in prisons – where next?’ 

Any practitioner who uses restorative approaches, in whatever setting they are applying them, will tell you that this stuff works. They will tell you that well trained practitioners working for schools, police, social work services, housing, prisons, health and myriad of other areas frequently see multiple types of success at many points along the journey when working with people in this way.