Criminal Justice Affairs Group

About the group

The Worcester Diocesan Criminal Justice Affairs group was formally launched with a pre-election event hosted by the Bishop and Dean in Worcester Cathedral on March 26th, 2015.

Download the 2023-2024 annual review of the Criminal Justice Affairs group.

You can contact the Criminal Justice Affairs group by emailing criminaljustice@cofe-worcester.org.uk.

Aims

The group has two main aims:

internally within the Diocese to offer a Christian perspective and provide expert advice on criminal justice matters, and
externally to raise public awareness and be catalysts of criminal justice-related social action

Criminal Justice System updates

Group member, Diana Fulbrook publishes an update on criminal justice issues ahead of each meeting of the Criminal Justice Affairs Group. Download the current issue (June 2024)

Previous annual reviews:

Conference

The group organised a day conference on IPP prisoners (Imprisonment for Public Protection) in October 2018 in the open setting of the Great Hall at the Grange, HMP Hewell. The title of the conference was Searching for a way out - The dilemma of the sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). It was well attended by people from across the criminal justice sector along with community organisations and churches.

The group is now looking at how to build on the energy generated by the day to help keep this issue moving forward.

The conference saw and heard by video various IPP prisoners talking about their experience. We are pleased to make an anonymised version of that video available here, so that you can hear their testimonies for yourself.

Group Membership

Since its launch it has grown in membership, and either through its membership or through shared activities is now linked with:

Diocesan Commission for Social Responsibility
West Mercia Criminal Justice Board
HMP Hewell
HMP Long Lartin
University of Worcester
Magistrates' Association Education and Research Network
Willowdene Care Farm

Its current membership is:

Group Chair: Stuart Currie

Prior to ordination Stuart taught modern languages before going to work in adult education in Zambia. He served his curacy in Reading and then joined the Banbury team ministry. He came to the Diocese of Worcester in 1994 when he was appointed vicar of St Stephen’s Barbourne, where he served for 22 years. During this time he served also as chair of the Diocesan Board of Education, chair of the House of Clergy, Rural Dean of Worcester East, Chaplain to the Alice Ottley School and as a member of General Synod. In 2016 he was appointed as the Bishop’s Chaplain, supporting the Rt Rev John Inge practically, spiritually and theologically. This includes acting as confidant to the Bishop, being a member of the Bishop’s staff, sharing in the pastoral care of the Diocesan clergy, carrying out research and a variety of administrative tasks including matters of safeguarding and clergy discipline.

Mark Badger, Archdeacon of Worcester

Mark was ordained in Worcester Cathedral in 1996. He served in St Stephen’s and St George’s churches in Worcester before briefly leaving the diocese to be Chaplain at Thames Valley Police, moving back to Worcester to head up ‘Motov8’, the charity he founded which supports young people who struggle in mainstream education with their personal and social development. He returned to full time parish ministry in 2012 as Rector of Kempsey and Severn Stoke and Area Dean of Malvern & Upton, before being licenced as Archdeacon of Worcester on 2 December 2023.

Group Secretary: Diana Fulbrook

Diana Fulbrook OBE is the former Chief Executive of Wiltshire Probation Trust (2000-2012), having retired from that role after working in the probation service for over 40 years, including working in Hereford and Worcester and Warwickshire. She also worked part time for the Parole Board for 10 years so is very well versed in the criminal justice system. She is a Lay Canon Emeritus of Salisbury Cathedral, and since retiring has had experience of chairing the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board, and Swindon’s Adult Safeguarding Board. She is now chair of the governing body of New College Worcester, a national college for blind and vision impaired young people, and chairs the Board of Trustees for Worcestershire Association of Carers.

David Cookson

David is the Deputy Head of Worcestershire Probation and he is the regional senior manager lead for Faith and Belief in the West Midlands Probation region. Previously working in a number of locations and disciplines in Probation, David moved to the West Mercia Probation area in 2014 and he currently oversees the operational delivery of the Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester Probation offices. Active in multiple local, regional and national partnership meetings, David also chairs the West Mercia MAPPA Performance and Standards group and the Worcestershire Community Sentence Treatment Requirement Board.

Amy Johnson

Amy is the Course Leader for Criminology and Criminology Pathways in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology at the University of Worcester. She draws upon her experience of working with various client groups (homelessness, addictions, offending and domestic abuse) to demonstrate application. Amy enjoys researching offending behaviour and exploring how the CJS is set up to support individuals with behavioural challenges and those who have a lower intellectual ability. Amy has an interest in the development of behaviour change interventions and evidence-based practice, particularly within the community and healthcare settings.

Dick Johnson

Dick is a full time Chaplain with a number of portfolios and became the first Joint Lead Chaplain for both West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service in 2017. The Joint Chaplain role makes up 60% of his time, with the other 40% funded by the five denominations involved in Faith at Work in Worcestershire. He began chaplaincy with the Fire Service in 2007 as part of his work as Industrial Missioner with FWW. Based mainly at the Police Headquarters at Hindlip, he provides chaplaincy to both services working with teams of volunteer chaplains.

Charmian Manship

Charmian trained as a musician and spent a lifetime teaching first music and then religious studies. She trained for the ministry on the St Alban's and Oxford Ministry Course, which included a placement at HMP Grendon Underwood, and served a curacy in the Oxford Diocese, moving to Worcester Cathedral as Succentor in 2003. After retiring from the cathedral, she worked for 7 years as a volunteer chaplain at HMP Hewell and chaired CJAG from its inception until recently.

Derek Markie

Derek Markie is a retired management consultant and Chartered Chemical Engineer living in Evesham, with a background in production and process operations management across UK industry and economic development in the public sector in the East Midlands. As an independent consultant he has blended work with commercial, public, voluntary and faith sector organisations from local to national level, reflecting his life-long Christian commitment, and has both strong family and personal interests in Criminal Justice across courts, probation/CRC and CPS. In the “devolution era” he was Executive Director of East Midlands Churches Forum and Faith to Engage, a member of the Regional Assembly, CPS Community Involvement Panel and a Board Member of One East Midlands (VCS).

Tim Morris

Tim has been a magistrate for over 40 years and sits on the Worcestershire Bench. He is mainly involved with adult criminal courts and over the years has been a member of various committees responsible for the administration of justice in the area. Until recently he was the deputy chairman of the Bench. Having retired as a surveyor, specialising in commercial and industrial properties, he is now able to spend more time playing the organ. He is organist of the Town Hall and Organist Emeritus of Saint George’s Church, Kidderminster.

Lia Palios-Hayden

Lia initially completed a degree in Spanish and French and worked in Customer Service and Internal Sales for 10 years at an international manufacturing company. In 2012, she started a career change and completed a BSc in Psychology and MSc in Forensic Psychology. She originally joined the charity YSS in 2016, as a volunteer Appropriate Adult supporting young people in custody. In 2019, she joined YSS as a member of staff helping to recruit, train and manage volunteers on the Appropriate Adult project. One of her proudest achievements at YSS was in helping to set up and drive forward a pilot project called Families First back in November 2020. During this time, she worked as a practitioner on the project supporting children, young people and families affected by parental imprisonment across Worcestershire. She also worked alongside a team of researchers from the Open University to conduct research measuring the impact of the project. In April 2023 she was promoted to Operations Manager responsible for Children, Young People and Families’ Services, Women’s services, Volunteering strategy, Business Development and Research.

Nick Scott

The Revd Nicholas Scott read Theology at UCNW, trained for ordained Anglican ministry at Wescott House Cambridge and as an RE teacher at the University of Warwick. He began ordained ministry as a Stipendiary priest in Portsmouth and Leicester Diocese. When he married Katrina, he retrained as a teacher and became PTO in Coventry diocese, changing to SSM after the birth of their first child. He worked with the Vocations Ministry Group and SACRE in Coventry diocese whilst teaching full time. He is PTO in the Diocese of Gloucester where he previously worked in IME and has been working as a Prison Chaplain since 2022.

Keith Stokes-Smith

Keith Stokes-Smith is a Chartered Secretary and Cost and Management Accountant by profession (FCIS ACMA) having been Company Secretary of British Home Stores plc and subsequently Wicks plc. He became a Worcestershire magistrate in 2002 having to retire in May 2020. He owns and runs a small property business though most of his time is spent in a voluntary capacity. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman-Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He was the Consul for Lithuania in the West Midlands until April 2020; is a member of the Birmingham Consular Association and is currently its President. He is also Chair of the Birmingham Commonwealth Association.

Stephanie Watson

Three years after her ordination in 1990, Stephanie Watson became Deputy Chaplain at Durham Prison (where she presided at her first communion) and introduced some work around perpetrators and victims. At HMP & YOI Low Newton, she led the chaplaincy team and chaired the Prisons’ Week Committee for the three prisons. In 2004 on moving to Worcester, Stephanie worked for Worcestershire Youth Offending Team focusing on youngsters at risk of custodial sentences. She then trained (2006) as an ‘Independent Domestic Violence Advocate’ and was involved in the setting up of the service in Worcestershire. In 2011, she completed Worcester University’s postgraduate certificate in the 'Dynamics of Domestic Abuse' followed by a safeguarding module to update previous safeguarding training. Stephanie returned to prison work in 2011 working as a chaplain at Long Lartin and then at Hewell until retirement in 2023.

Volunteering for Justice

This resource brings together over 50 volunteering opportunities in the Diocese of Worcester and wider West Midlands area, focused on providing support to people affected by crime, the rehabilitation of offenders and support to criminal justice and other agencies working in the field.

Volunteering for Justice is the culmination of a joint project between the Diocese of Worcester Criminal Justice Affairs Group and the University of Worcester with essential support provided by the diocesan communications team. The project was established following a major Conference held in Worcester in November 2015 which identified that many people who wished to offer their skill on a voluntary basis in criminal justice related areas often found difficulty in identifying available opportunities. This web page seeks to fill that gap by offering a signposting service which is easy to use, and provides useful information at the click of a button. We hope you find it helpful.

Disclaimer

In bringing together this directory of volunteering opportunities, neither the Diocese nor the University of Worcester endorses any particular organisation or specific volunteering role. As in all volunteering opportunities it is essential for every volunteer to ensure that adequate health and safety provisions, including risk assessments, are in place, and that appropriate insurance cover exists if necessary.

Page last updated: Wednesday 28th August 2024 2:38 PM