Circles South West Commended in Howard League Community Award
Circles South West are delighted to announce we have been commended by the Howard League in the ‘Children in Care and Care Leavers’ category. This category is particularly competitive which makes this achievement all the more significant.
Successful schemes that reduce crime and transform lives for the better received national recognition on 20 October as the winners of the 2020 Howard League Community Awards were announced.
The prestigious awards are presented annually by the Howard League for Penal Reform to people and organisations whose innovative work helps to make communities safer.
From a large number of nominations, more than 50 projects from across England, Wales and Scotland were shortlisted for this year’s awards, giving them the chance to promote their work on the national stage. They tuned into a Howard League online celebration event this morning to hear the winners and commended entries being announced.
Catryn Yousefi, Programmes Manager at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:
The Howard League Community Awards celebrate successful projects and pioneers who help people to turn away from conflict with the law and make everyone safer.
The flood of entries from across the country reveals that many people are working with imagination and enthusiasm, often inventing new approaches that have important lessons for us all.
Only the very best schemes in the UK are honoured each year and, once again, we were delighted to receive so many high-quality nominations.
Back in 2016 we adapted the traditional Circles model to meet the needs of young people 14 years plus, and last year secured funding to work with children from the age of 10 years. Since 2016, we have coordinated 26 young people’s circles. This innovative community project harnesses the skills and commitment of local volunteers to support children in care and care leavers convicted of sexual offending and/or who have perpetrated harmful sexual behaviour. We work in close partnership with public protection and other relevant organisations, including children’s social care, youth offending teams and specialist health services.
You can read about our YP project in full here when we announced our nomination.
Particular congratulations and thanks go to Jackie Citron, our Young People’s Service coordinator, who has taken this project from strength to strength since her appointment and to the countless, dedicated volunteers who have spent their time and expertise on working with our young core members. Their patience and guidance will make a lasting impact on the lives they touch.
If you want to support our work in this field, you can find out how to do so through our donation page here or through this article on how to adopt us as your charity on Amazon Smile.
