{"id":15729,"date":"2017-11-16T13:48:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/?p=15729"},"modified":"2017-11-16T14:39:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T14:39:28","slug":"celebrating-restorative-justice-week-a-week-in-the-life-of-marcus-czarnecki-restorative-practice-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/2017\/11\/celebrating-restorative-justice-week-a-week-in-the-life-of-marcus-czarnecki-restorative-practice-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Restorative Justice Week : A week in the life of Marcus Czarnecki \u2013 Restorative Practice Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each Year The RJC \u2013 Restorative Justice Council nationally and internationally observes Restorative Justice week \u2013 a week that aims to highlight the benefits of Restorative Justice and to keep the paradigm and the flame of dialogue about Restorative Justice (RJ) alive and fresh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The big ideas are crucial \u2013 we have those \u2013 From 2011 We (the Community Safety Partnership and Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire) have championed the idea of a Restorative Borough \u2013 using the benefits of restorative justice and restorative practice throughout North East Lincolnshire.\u00a0 Step by step we are doing that \u2013 making advances, suffering setbacks \u2013 but also inspiring new ideas and having great impact. Agreeing to the big idea is the easy part. It\u2019s the tiny steps along the way that really matter. As with all culture change it takes time. These changes can be inspired by visionaries, given substance through training courses, encouraged as practice by good leaders, given a rationale and context by policies and procedures \u2013 but it is in the realm of the heart \u2013 person to person example and encouragement that genuine understanding and the transformative \u2018Eureka!\u2019 Or \u2018Aaah \u2013 Now I understand!\u2019 moments occur which then cause the greatest impact.<\/p>\n

So, rather put on an event just to celebrate RJ Week in November – here are a few of the all-important tiny steps taken during Restorative Justice Week in North East Lincolnshire that are contributing to the creation of a whole new way \u2013 realities that are evolving, growing, appearing, being cultivated, emerging…<\/p>\n

Day 1<\/strong> \u2013 Started working with a brilliant team of 8-10 year olds in a West Marsh School \u2013 developing a team of Peer Mediators for Restorative Mediation. Terrific fun. We started really listening and developing this most essential skill of all. (Started a 5 week training programme). The children will be playground monitors and will be trained to facilitate restorative circles and mediations using all the key skills that the big people use.<\/p>\n

Day 2<\/strong> \u2013 Delivered a full day Being Restorative course to staff and partners of North East Lincolnshire Council. So far this is 565 people who I have worked with in NELC \u2013 contributing to their journey of Becoming a Restorative organisation – delivering the idea of Being Restorative in order that we model that behaviour for others \u2013 so that we work With people rather than doing things To them or For them \u2013 and we support people to become masters of making decisions for themselves \u2013 that were once made by authority figures.<\/p>\n

Day 3<\/strong> \u2013 Restorative approaches to a neighbour dispute again on the west marsh. Using conflict transformation ideas and understandings to help folk turn around their own issues. Because of our inherent acute sense of safety \u2013 most of us self-protect our integrity when we are accused of something.. guilt caused by actuality, by accusation or by association is dealt with by emotionally blaming others and wanting them to do the changing first . A conflict is often a tight knot of unhealed emotions related to safety, integrity and sincerity that have not been expressed. Getting people to talk with each other is the difficult thing.. also using trauma informed working and the skills learned during the Cope and Recover work stream we did for the OPCC last year to help heal issues is still having great impact.<\/p>\n

Day 4<\/strong> \u2013 Holding the 65th Organised Dialogue in North East Lincolnshire\u2026 A dialogue in the community conducted in a fully restorative manner has been going on in North East Lincolnshire since 2009 and has involved over 300 people. The next theme is Overcoming Trauma \u2013 \u2018Resilience, Listening and Love\u2019 in the 7th series (Fostering the Future) The dialogues are now being conducted privately in the West Marsh, we have been supported by our partners – Grimsby Institute and Grimsby Town Hall where 62 of the dialogues have been held which have inspired and informed new robust but gentle ways of doing new things in large meetings. The Organised Dialogues have been held up as unique in the United Kingdom \u2013 actually putting into practice what some scholars and change makers are only talking about. The dialogues have been the subject of two symposiums in the universities of Leeds and Sheffield through which the dialogue format has contributed to the Northern Ireland Peace Process in the way it allows for the safe and equal interface between the community and the statutory agents \u2013 which in a conflict zone where each are the chief protagonists \u2013 has been a way of using restorative dialogue to balance power and generate real listening between two world views \u2013 often the very things that can\u2019t be measured. The dialogue are now seeking a new home \u2013 a visionary with a large free room \u2013 monthly between 5 -8pm with tea and coffee. Can you help?<\/p>\n

Day 5<\/strong> \u2013 Morning circle in the Hub. The great advances in partnership working especially in early help, prevention and early intervention is a step ahead of the game in the UK. Indeed \u2013 through a unique way of bringing together inherently restorative practices we are beginning to emerge as a trailblaiser in the UK. Restorative Practice as an underpinning \u2013 with Signs Of Safety, Family Group Conferencing, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Outcomes Based Accountability \u2013 with family practitioners, social workers, police officers, health staff, Domestic Violence workers, trainers all working together . Using circles to do the essential CONNECT before CONTENT \u2013 putting the person before the process \u2013 the human factor and needs to associate before just the job title and business of the agenda. Building a sense of community and unity.<\/p>\n

Day 6<\/strong> \u2013 Delivering Restorative Practice training to BA and MA student Social Workers at Hull University. Taking the idea of prevention and early intervention to the level of recruitment \u2013 Hull University students are the largest catchment of work experience and job seekers for social worker positions. We are training the trainee social workers in Restorative Practice before the come to work for us in NELC. A full day of training \u2013 looking at Being Restorative as a practitioner \u2013 and supporting the change of understanding in the population \u2013 as we listen to people and model the behaviour and practice of doing things WITH them rather than AT them TO them or FOR them.<\/p>\n

The interesting thing about this week in the life of yours truly \u2013 is that it isn\u2019t a construct \u2013 it\u2019s a real week \u2013 but really it\u2019s just one thing from each day in this real week.<\/p>\n

Like all workers \u2013 like all staff \u2013 like all volunteers and communities – the day to day contribution to the cultivation of the end game is almost impossible to record in terms of immediate benefit and overall or long term impact on; the happiness of local people, the satisfaction of employees, the peace in communities, the learning and emotional resilience in children and the embetterment of future generation. All we can do is our best.<\/p>\n

My unending gratitude as always to the boards, trustees and staff of both VANEL and the Community Safety Partnership NEL for their vision and understanding and patience.<\/p>\n

Marcus Czarnecki for Restorative Justice Week<\/em><\/p>\n

marcus.czarnecki@nelincs.gov.uk<\/a>
\nmarcus@vanel.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Restorative Justice week 2017 is 19th-26th November
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each Year The RJC \u2013 Restorative Justice Council nationally and internationally observes Restorative Justice week \u2013 a week that aims to highlight the benefits of Restorative Justice and to keep the paradigm and the flame of dialogue about Restorative Justice (RJ) alive and fresh. Here Marcus Czarnecki talks us through his week of activities working around Restorative Justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[517],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3cThd-45H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15729"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15735,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729\/revisions\/15735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}