STOP PRESS: Funding Announced to Build the World’s First Restorative Justice Postcode
London, 29th December
We are delighted to share the news that the Restorative Justice for All International Institute has been selected to receive funding from The Government’s Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund.
Delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, these grants aim to support charities and community organisations in England at the frontline of dealing with the cost of living.
Using this grant, RJ4All has four clear objectives:
- To provide our foodbank and community fridge with additional supplies, and offering a wrap-around food support with more activities including cooking classes and community meals.
- To extend our warm hub hours, specifically to provide emergency supplies, and provide workshops around employability, life skills and financial advice.
- To increase our Youth Club services and welcome even more children as part of our after school, holiday and half-term activities.
- To build up our “safe hub” service by promoting our centre as a safe place for anyone to come to, feel at home and in good company, and receive any wellbeing support they may need (e.g. restorative justice wellbeing circles).
These services are a core part of our overarching ambition to establish the world’s first restorative justice postcode in SE16. We believe that the delivery of local services through restorative justice values, by key stakeholders (community, private and public service sector) leads to an improvement of power-distribution and community cohesion and the reduction of the root causes that lead to harm. And a first step in this journey is to address the root causes of poverty and inequalities.
Anna Fosse-Galtier, Community Centre Manager, said, "This grant is a game-changer for us, allowing our tight-knit team to not only fill our foodbank shelves but also extend our warm hub hours, welcome more kids to our Youth Club, and create a safe haven for everyone in SE16. This support means the world to us, empowering our mission to address the root causes of hardships and inequalities. A heartfelt thank you to the Government for recognising the impact we strive to make every day."
Our community centre is a hub for community empowerment and cohesion. All our services are free of charge to the community, aiming for instance to tackling food insecurity, health inequalities, and bridging the digital divide. We bring stakeholders together, give a voice to the community, and unite everyone in SE16 behind the values and practices of restorative justice including of power-sharing, equality, dignity, respect and involvement in decision making.
A regular RJ4All service user from SE16 London said, “As a mum of two girls, being able to get a few basic items per week from the community fridge is amazing and helps my money go further.”
This initiative works towards a more even distribution of power by addressing harm through restorative practices and preventative measures. Drawing on a decade of international research, RJ4All is currently collecting local data to assess the project’s effectiveness. Further down the line, we hope to pioneer similar restorative justice postcodes on a national and international scale through user-led and data-driven approaches.
Dr. Theo Gavrielides, RJ4All Founder and Director, said, “As a global restorative justice movement aiming to address power abuse at all levels, we strive to combat socio-economic issues both locally and internationally. We are immensely grateful for any support we receive, as it allows us to keep delivering much-needed support and services to the community, while working to achieve the world’s first restorative justice postcode.”
This grant will have both short and long-term impacts for RJ4All and our service users, enabling us to reach the families and individuals that will benefit most. As the only place that offers an open-scheme foodbank without vouchers in SE16 as well as providing a warm hub and safe house services, and as the only restorative justice expert in Southwark, RJ4All has an important presence in the community. We’re looking forward to continuing to deliver on these projects and expanding them, and would like to thank the Government for making this possible.
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Editor notes:
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Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All)
The RJ4All Rotherhithe Community Centre, 30 Plough Way London SE16 2LJ, UK
admin@rj4all.org | +44(0)7708758600 or 07795678904
