We’re delighted to announce that we have been awarded £93,134 in funding from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales to help us make a positive impact on policy and practice in the criminal justice system.

Our project is aiming to

• address the disproportionality of Gypsy and Traveller youth and adults in the criminal justice system;
• lobby for consistent and routine data collection and ethnic monitoring across entire criminal justice system;
• produce high quality research and insights to inform change and best practice and to lobby government for the full implementation of the recommendations made in the Lammy review.

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has awarded funding to our charity for up to 3 years and 16 other specialist charities and partnerships as part of its new 2020 Criminal Justice National Programme.

The criminal justice system is currently under extreme pressure, facing staff shortages, dangerous levels of overcrowding, assaults and self-harm at record levels, the part-privatisation of probation having comprehensively failed and high rates of reoffending.

Small specialist charities like ours have had huge success in raising awareness of GRT issues in prison and targeting key players and influencers. Yet, despite this expertise and track record, the Traveller Movement and other specialist charities are still not properly involved in how prisons and the probation service are funded and organised. At the start of this new Government and Parliament there is a clear need and chance to make changes to reform and improve the system.

The Foundation’s programme is supporting the specialist voluntary sector to gather evidence, speak up and use their expertise and understanding to help influence policy and practice across the new probation and wider criminal justice system. Charities funded through the programme are seeking to:

• make the case for better alternatives to prison, by intervening earlier to prevent crime and reduce the number of people going to prison;
• improve how groups disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system are treated, such as BAME prisoners, young people and women;
• Improve how the prison and probation service work, in particular by ensuring that specialist and small charities are properly involved and funded.

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Notes to Editor

About Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales partners with small and local charities who help people overcome complex social issues. In 2019, the Foundation awarded 344 grants to charities worth £21,402,088.04.

Through long-term funding, developmental support and influencing policy and practice, the Foundation helps those charities make life-changing impact. The Foundation is an independent charitable trust funded by the profits of Lloyds Banking Group as part of their commitment to Helping Britain Prosper.

For more information visit www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk