A fascinating lunchtime talk was held at The Mint House - ‘Taking People Seriously: Responding to need through restorative practice’ by Tim Newell. His full presentation can be downloaded here.
Tim Newell was a prison governor for 38 years, with the last ten governing Grendon and Springhill prisons. Grendon is a unique therapeutic community prison for people who have committed serious crimes. Springhill is for people coming to the end of long and medium term sentences and preparing for release in open conditions. Both would be considered partially restorative in the model of three circles.
Since leaving prison he worked with various restorative practices including:
being a facilitator for restorative conferences with the Thames Valley JRC project
with Quakers in Britain developing Circles of Support and Accountability in the Thames Valley - the first place to establish them
founding and developing Escaping Victimhood - providing experiential workshops for families bereaved by homicide
supporting the community chaplaincy - New Leaf, mentoring those leaving prison and returning to the Thames Valley.
Previous talks in The Mint House Lunchtime Talk Series:
In July 2016 we heard from Colette Morgan of Safe!, her talk about 'Child on Parent Violence' held at gave a fascinating account of the valuable workshops they run, with the aim of cultivating respectful families throughout Oxfordshire.