Nacro news

London’s Southbank Centre has partnered up with the Koestler Trust for its UK exhibition I’m Still Here, showcasing artwork by ex-offenders, secure patients and detainees from the 2018 Koestler Awards, curated by prisoners’ families. Seven young people from Nacro’s Bluebird House created this piece called The Mental Health Hydra. Each head represents one person’s interpretation of what mental…

In London (Friday 22 September) the inaugural Tapping into New Talent conference, spearheaded by The Corbett Network, Nacro and Dominic Headley Associates (DHA), underlined the importance of employers including people with convictions within their workforce. Employers from a diverse range of sectors throughout the UK attended to hear first-hand the real benefits that come from…

Nacro is spearheading a new campaign to overcome the practical barriers to effective resettlement for prison leavers. While the government continues to consult on large scale reforms to probation services, as well as deal with the chronic violence and drugs problems in prisons, Nacro has looked at how practical solutions can be taken forward immediately…

Groundbreaking analysis of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the new Data Protection Act by Nacro reveals that employers across the country will struggle to justify requesting criminal record information at the initial application stage of a recruitment process, if they are to comply with the new laws which came into force on 25 May…

Nacro welcomes the Education Select Committee’s report on alternative provision published today. We are pleased to see some of Nacro’s recommendations reflected in the report, particularly the importance of quality alternative provision and that funding for AP should continue post-16. Helen Berresford, Director of External Engagement, said: “We believe that all young people deserve high-quality…

Nacro has won a silver medal for a garden we made at the RHS Tatton Flower Show, which we enter each year. Gardener Andy Walker of Walker Landscape & Design designed the garden and received help from Nacro Manchester staff and service users. Doors opened to the public on Wednesday and the final day to…

Nacro has been recognised with the award of 2018 National Union of Students (NUS) People award for introducing Student Unions across all our education centres. The 2018 NUS People Award recognises extraordinary work and achievements to empower and support students. Student Unions exist to represent students within education institutions internally and externally, on wide ranging local…

In response to the Justice Committee report on Transforming Rehabilitation, Nacro Chief Executive, Jacob Tas, said: “We welcome the Justice Committee report and the recognition that the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme cannot deliver its original ambition under the current format. “The report is right to highlight that the voluntary sector is less involved in probation…

In response to the launch of the Employment and Education Strategy, Nacro Chief Executive, Jacob Tas, said: “We welcome the launch of the Employment and Education Strategy and are very encouraged to see greater focus on employers and prisons working together to provide more work opportunities for people upon release from prison.  A new apprenticeship…

 Nacro’s Beyond Youth Custody (BYC) programme ends this month and the team has produced a legacy video. This resource is designed for practitioners, policymakers, researchers and service providers. The video outlines key learnings from the six years of the programme, with a focus on our final publication ‘Now all I care about is my…

In response to a generous donation by L’Oreal Bury, Nacro Housing North West manager, Pamela Dodoo, said: “Nacro is delighted to have been chosen by L’Oreal as one of their charities to support during 2018. Nacro Housing North West received a generous donation of £3,162 from L’Oreal Bury in Greater Manchester, following a charity event…

On Monday 16 April 2018, BYC hosted a conference at Portcullis House in Parliament to celebrate the successes of the six years of the programme and to consider how BYC’s research on effective resettlement can be adopted by various services across social work, justice, health and housing to improve outcomes for young people. The conference…

“It is welcome to see the Chancellor’s focus on the importance of housing and education in today’s Spring Statement. We know through our work with some of the most disadvantaged people across the country that having a safe and secure home is absolutely central to someone’s chances and opportunities in life. But too often high…

The Nacro SWITCH project, which helps vulnerable women in the Tees Valley area to turn their lives around, has been featured on the Guardian Public Leaders Network. This vital service faces closure on 31 March 2018 if additional funding is not secured. In the article Sujata Pant, who manages Nacro SWITCH, says: “We’ve helped many…

Nacro Chief Executive, Jacob Tas, said: “We are delighted to announce the Novus Nacro Partnership which seeks to deliver adult education in prisons. This unique partnership presents an exciting opportunity to deliver high quality education and skills training, which will drive ‘through the gate’ resettlement and help people with convictions to secure wraparound support such…

 Staff from our Sandwell education centre attended the Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre in early February. The event was organised by Alison Cope, the mother of Joshua Ribera, a rapper known as Depzman, who was killed as a result of a knife attack in 2013. Alison had previously…

A new campaign is being launched to help boost efforts to ensure the survival of the Nacro’s SWITCH (Supporting Women in the Community and Home) Project in Tees Valley. The SWITCH Project, delivered by social justice charity, Nacro, helps hundreds of disadvantaged and vulnerable women, many of whom have been victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse…

Hosts Gary Philipson and Andy Bell featured Nacro’s SWITCH project on BBC Tees, talking about the project and its need for further funding before its closure in March. Click here to listen to the segment. Specific SWITCH mentions are as follows: 02:00 – 02:52 07:36 – 16:18 01:07:29 – 01:16:46

The SunEmployment ‘care leavers’ article co-ordinated by the Department of Work and Pensions features a Nacro advice/top tips section. You can read it here.

Last week, the Charity Commission published new guidance for individuals and for charities about changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules which affect who can run a charity. What is changing? The existing rules disqualify people from being a trustee of a charity if they have unspent convictions for certain offences including dishonesty and deception. A…

Nacro’s Supporting Women in the Community and Home (SWITCH) project team held a roundtable discussion on Friday 19 January, which followed recent visits to the SWITCH project from Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, and Simon Clarke, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. Simon Clarke MP and numerous local stakeholders came together to raise awareness…

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) have launched a basic check service for people living and/or working in England and Wales. This replaces the service previously offered by Disclosure Scotland. What are basic checks? A basic check is the lowest level of criminal record certification available in the UK. They reveal details of any cautions…

Continued support – and individualised study programmes with a vocationally geared curriculum – result in more success stories, writes Nacro’s principal and director of education and skills Lisa Capper Alternative provision remains under the spotlight. In 2016, Ofsted published a report on this area after a three-year survey. More recently, the Commons Education Select Committee has…

Nacro’s resettlement advice team’s job advice for former offenders is featured in SunEmployment, which today highlights initiatives to get people with convictions into work, by former offender Moses Adeyemi. Minister for Family Support, Caroline Dineage, and Prisons Minister, Sam Gyimah, are quoted in support of helping to bring former offenders back into the workforce as…

Nacro’s Osmaston Family Project achieved success at their recent Ofsted inspection, gaining a ‘Good’ rating. Ofsted highlighted their teamwork, self-evaluation and strong parental relationships. The children were observed to make good progress and the staff were seen to embody Nacro’s values, as the young people regard them as role models who encourage good behaviour and…

Our Beyond Youth Custody (BYC) programme, which brings together Nacro with three research and evaluation partners, ARCS (UK), and Salford and Bedfordshire universities, has released a new report that proposes a theory of change for the effective resettlement of young people leaving custody. It recognises that effective and sustainable resettlement facilitates a shift in the way…

Our 2018 Nacro wall calendars are available to order now. An essential reference guide for the year ahead, it features 2018’s key religious festivals, bank holidays and public holidays.   Price – £1.20 per calendar Postage and packing: 1 copy: £1.20 2-5 copies: £1.80 6-9 copies: £3 10-20 copies: £3.60 21-30 copies: £4.20 31-40 copies: £4.40…

Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the Langridge Initiative Centre in Middlesbrough, where Nacro’s SWITCH (Supporting Women in the Community and Home) mentoring project is based. Rudd was visiting the area to see what various organisations are doing to support the community. SWITCH supports vulnerable or disadvantaged women aged 16 and older in Middlesbrough, Redcar and…

A new joint briefing, ‘Race, mental health and criminal justice: moving forward’, from social justice charity, Nacro, Clinks, the Association of Mental Health Providers, Mental Health Foundation and the Race Equality Foundation has found that voluntary sector practitioners and service users from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are extremely concerned that too many…

Nacro has been mentioned in the Boston Standard highlighting Nacro’s GCSE results, which outperformed the national average. Simon Ashton, Senior Tutor at Nacro Boston education centre, said, “We are absolutely delighted with the progress our post-16 students have made and all their hard work in the lead up to their GCSE exams this summer. English…

Lisa Capper, Nacro Director of Education and Skills, said: “We are delighted that Nacro students have performed so well in their recent GCSE exams. Their results for both English and maths have exceeded the national average for the second year running, taking many of them a step closer to their chosen career. Our 18 education centres…

Nacro’s Manchester housing staff and service users created a garden for this year’s prestigious RHS Tatton Flower Show. With the theme of “Peace Garden”, it was nominated in the “Back to Back” Garden category. To their delight, it won silver and was featured on BBC Two’s programme about the Flower Show on Friday 21 July.

Understanding of offender mental health needs must improve to prevent increasing prison suicides, says Nacro Chief Executive, Jacob Tas: “Firstly, we must be clear about the critical importance of early intervention and stemming the flow of people that are sent to prison in the first place. There are simply too many people in prisons, resulting…

Earlier this year, Nacro was approached by the Learning and Work Institute to take part in national research on the roll out and implementation of the Government’s traineeship programme.

Nacro Chief Executive, Jacob Tas, said: “While the Queen’s speech inevitably focused on Brexit, the government must not take its eye off the ‘injustices’ in this country, which the Prime Minister rightly referred to. We respond below to specific proposals included in the Queen’s speech based upon our experience of supporting disadvantaged young people and adults…

The government organisation has announced that it will be working with our Beyond Youth Custody programme to use their findings to inform the resettlement strategy for custody leavers, as featured in Children and Young People Now. Read the article here.

Our Resettlement Advice Service is currently being featured in Eastenders on the poster in the background. The service offers free support, guidance and training to employers, education providers and other organisations. It also advises key decision makers within government and seeks to support and influence policy through consultations and campaigns. This poster is designed to…

On the 19 April, with the kind permission of the Speaker of the House of Commons, we brought a year-long celebration of our 50th anniversary to a close with an evening reception at the Speaker’s House in the House of Commons. The celebrations throughout the year have been a great opportunity for us to reflect on…

A full house gathered at the House of Lords last week to celebrate five years of Nacro’s research and policy programme, Beyond Youth Custody, and the Youth in Focus programme. Youth in Focus (YIF) is a Big Lottery Fund initiative which funded BYC and 15 voluntary sector projects across the country supporting young people leaving custody….

Nacro Director of Education and Skills, Lisa Capper, said: “We are delighted that Nacro has been included within the new apprenticeship training provider register published by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Skills Finding Agency (SFA) earlier this month, which aims to ensure that apprenticeships are run only by the highest quality providers. “From May…

  Nacro is proud to have been awarded Investors in People (IIP) Silver accreditation. This is a great achievement which followed a rigorous assessment process. Achieving the IIP Silver accreditation recognises the high quality of Nacro’s people management and development practices and confirms us as one of the top employers in the UK. The award is a testament to Nacro’s: clear strategy and…

On the 16 March at Central Library in Manchester, leading social justice charity, Nacro, will deliver a large-scale employer event as the formal launch of its groundbreaking initiative, the Aeneid Project. The talents and skills of more than 10 million people in the UK who have convictions are often overlooked due to many employers deciding not to…

Findings from Beyond Youth Custody (BYC), which brings together Nacro and three research and evaluation partners, were featured in an article in The Independent. The piece reported on the guidelines put forward by the Sentencing Council, which encourage judges to avoid criminalisation of young people, especially those from ethnic minorities, by examining their background in greater detail. It mentions the findings…

A joint letter signed by Nacro and other not-for-profit organisations voicing concern over supported housing was published in the Guardian. The content of the letter read as follows: As not-for-profit organisations working with some of the most vulnerable people in our society, we voice our deep concern at the government’s plans to radically change the way they pay for…

Stody House, our new housing service for ex-servicemen and women in Manchester was officially opened by the Lord Mayor Carl Austin-Behan. The service, which opened in January, is providing six veterans with a home and support with getting into employment, as well as cognitive psychological and social rehabilitation services and training opportunities to support the residents…

In September 2015 Charlie Taylor was asked to lead a departmental review of the youth justice system for the Ministry of Justice – the Taylor Review. In order to feed young people’s views and experiences into the review Nacro, along with Clinks and Peer Power, organised two consultation events for young people who had been…

Nacro has joined the anti-domestic violence and sexual assault campaign, UK SAYS NO MORE. UK SAYS NO MORE is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness to end domestic violence and sexual assault. Launched in May 2016, the campaign is a partnership between London charity Hestia, and the No More campaign in the US. The campaign aims…

Last week, Nacro’s CEO, Jacob Tas, spoke on a panel  discussion at the Annual Youth Justice Convention 2016, which took place in Milton Keynes. Touching on the findings from Beyond Youth Custody’s recently published research about trauma, he highlighted the prevalence of trauma in the backgrounds of young people involved in the justice system, and the need for trauma-informed approaches….

Nacro’s Blue Light Project has recently been featured on ITV News. You can see the clip here. Both Nacro Project Worker, Bridget Sheeran, and Matt, one of our service users, were interviewed. The piece describes the issue of alcohol misuse in Lincolnshire, and the work of the Blue Light Project, which aims to reduce the…

A new report from Beyond Youth Custody states that young people in the criminal youth justice system have a disproportionate amount of trauma in their backgrounds – ranging from emotional, physical and sexual abuse, to neglect, bullying, violence, bereavement and abandonment – which must be identified and responded to effectively. The report presents findings from a review…