The conferences provide a real opportunity for No Offence! members to contribute to the future of criminal justice. All conferences will provide an opportunity for focused research in the future and form the actions of a ‘working group’ approach, made up of No Offence! members who have a specific interest, backed up with expertise and passion to join us on our journey. All conferences have a pre-allocated number of free places for ex-offenders to join us so that our audiences are truly cross sector and accessible, to maximise our impact and opportunity at a price you can afford.
All our conferences are delivered in various regions across the UK but with a National focus, they are relevant for delegates from across the country.
Discounts offered for students, be quick as these numbers are limited
Email us for details: No Offence!
How to book: Booking Information
Partnership Opportunities
All No Offence! CIC national conferences attract partners. There are a number of partnership options, as detailed below to suit every partner and the message that you would like to convey. Partnering with us on a number of ‘follow on’ events offers enhanced levels of promotional benefit. We have a schedule of different conferences, one per month, apart from August and December, and each has a specific focus and objective. Each conference attracts a connected but often different audience.
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'Broken Soldiers'
HMP Oakwood, Featherstone, West Midlands
The No Offence! summer conference at HMP Oakwood will focus on the increasing number of ex-military personnel entering the criminal justice system.
Following on from our widely publicised conference in 2012, the production of Battle Scarred: Soldiers Behind Bars by award-winning filmmaker Chris Terrill, is about to hit the headlines and raise awareness that many thousands of service personnel will enter 'civvy street' over the next few years with the suggestion that a worrying percentage of those could enter the criminal justice system.
- Evidence from specialist providers such as Combat Stress shows that over the last 10 years the incidents of veteran mental health issues within UK forces has risen significantly.
- Referrals to Combat Stress have increased by 72% since 2005.
- Between 30 - 40% of Veterans suffer with varying levels of Combat Related PTSD (CRPTSD). Others have varying levels of mental health illness – depression, anxiety, stress, low sense of self-worth, alcohol and substance misuse.
- In a recent International Journal of Social Psychiatry report (2011), a lifetime prevalence of 5.6% for intentional self-harm (self-harm or attempted suicide) by UK Armed forces was reported. Intentional self-harm was associated with psychological morbidity (in particular, post-traumatic stress disorder) and adverse experiences in childhood. Ex-service personnel reported lifetime prevalence more than double that of serving personnel (10.5% vs 4.2%, respectively). Participants reporting intentional self-harm were also younger (34.4 years vs 39.8 years).
- Similar research by the University of Manchester identified that young veterans aged under 24 were 2-3 times more likely to kill themselves than civilian men of the same age.
- Research by Kings College London shows increasing numbers of young veterans charged with violence offences, mainly linked to combat related experiences and military training.
- All damage the social well being of families and communities.
Who is responsible when service personnel are discharged? Are they given adequate resettlement back into the community? Does the current situation fly in the face of the military covenant?
All these questions and more will be debated throughout the day by key speakers and workshop leads from various professional backgrounds who will deliver presentations explaining the important facts and issues associated with this emotive and misrepresented group.
This will be your opportunity to feed into this debate, so please do come and join the conversation.
'Offender Housing - a thing of the past?'
17th September 2013
Signing Tree Conference Centre,
"Reoffending is being fuelled by ex-prisoner homelessness" quoted a recent article produced by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The Ministry of Justice have identified that homelessness is a key factor in reducing re-offending and are aligning the prison estate to ensure that the vast majority of all adult male offenders will be released from prisons closer to their local area having spent a minimum of three months there prior to release.
This conference will look at some of the barriers that people leaving prison face in finding stable and appropriate accommodation. The main focus of the day will be to share positive practice, look at future opportunities for working effectively in the criminal justice system.
The speakers and workshops will
- Look at the recent developments that will affect housing options for people leaving prison
- Identify the impact of localism on housing allocations policies the affordability
- How welfare benefit reform will affect affordability of accommodation
- The increase in homelessness nationally
- How funding changes will require a new approach to housing provision
- The role that stable housing can play in reducing re-offending
- The new role of prisons in resettlement
The questions that will be posed and debated will be:
- How can the public, private and voluntary sector work together to resolve housing issues for people leaving prison?
- How will payment by results affect housing options?
- Are there new funding opportunities emerging?
With the Ministry of Justice recognising the importance of housing in reducing re-offending, this conference is being held at a perfect time to bring together key speakers and experts to open up the opportunities that this might offer in the brave new world of the criminal justice system.
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