Thames Valley Partnership
“protecting victims, supporting offenders and their families”
The Thames Valley Partnership works in partnership with the statutory, private and voluntary sectors to provide long-term sustainable solutions to the problems of crime and social exclusion. We work to protect victims and reintegrate offenders. Our strength is in collaborative working and integrated approaches across sectors, particularly linking Criminal Justice services to voluntary sector and Local Authority providers.
Our broad spectrum of work includes programmes around the needs of families of offenders, work in the field of domestic abuse, support for victims, restorative justice, community cohesion, mental health issues, early interventions & initiatives around young people and arts related projects.
Find out more about the different aspects of Our Work.
News
Service News
In light of the developing Covid 19 events and following Government advice please note that our head office in Aston Sandford will be closed for the foreseeable future, with all staff working remotely. Phone lines for all our services will be answered as usual however so should you need information please contact us on the numbers below.
We wish to reassure you that those who rely on our services remain our priority – we are working hard to ensure our services remain as functional as possible during this time. Many of those we support are extremely vulnerable and are now at a greater risk of falling ill during the outbreak. Some have complex needs, are in crisis with no place to self-isolate or access to stable environments in which to take care of themselves. Some disruption is inevitable as we work within the restrictions imposed but as far as possible we want to ensure that our support services run as normal – our frontline workers are being as creative as possible to support service users via phone and a variety of other digital tools rather than face to face.
We are continuing to develop and implement new ways of working to ensure our staff team, volunteers and the people we support remain safe. Meetings are now being held via conference call or on-line and we are establishing systems to help our staff to manage their workload and personal lives effectively and safely during the outbreak.
As the office team are now working from home please avoid using postal contact – if you are a supplier, have a general enquiry regarding our services or wish to make a donation, please contact us in the first instance via email at: admin@thamesvalleypartnership.org.uk or by phone on the numbers below:
CONTACT US VIA:
Head Office Functions and General Enquiries: Tel. 01844 202 001
Family Matters and New Leaf Offender Mentoring programmes: Tel. 01844 487985
Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service: Tel. 01844 487980
Victims’ First Willow Service: Tel. 01844 487987
Victims’ First Emotional Support Service: Tel. 01844 487989
TecSOS : please contact via 01844 202 001 in the first instance
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND KEEP WELL
2020 Criminal Justice National Programme Funding!
A huge Thank You to Lloyds Bank Foundation for
England and Wales!
We’re delighted to announce that we have been awarded over £200K 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.
This funding will enable the Partnership to run a specific piece of work over three years – testing out ways in which specialist charities can build capacity and come together to better support criminal justice agencies in their efforts to reduce reoffending and strengthen communities. To support this exciting new project we are looking to recruit for a brand new post of Strategic Network Manager.
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has awarded funding to our charity for a number of years and we are thrilled to be selected to receive this particular funding, along with 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 tackling reoffending, helping people turn their lives around and preventing people from falling into a cycle of crime. Yet, despite this expertise and track record the Partnership 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.
NOTE: We are still accepting applications for the new Strategic Network Manager post until 5pm on 29th January !! See full details on our Jobs page here
Looking Forward to 2020 ….
Looking forward to the spring daffodils again at Aston Sandford church !
We would like to wish all our funders, service users, volunteers, partners and colleagues very best wishes for 2020 – we look forward to working with you in the coming year!
PCC announces contract for a new Adult Specialist Service
Following a commissioning process conducted by the Office of the PCC for Thames Valley, the Partnership is delighted to have been selected to deliver a new Specialist Service for Adult Victims. The new service, which will start in April 2020, will provide tailored support to meet the individual needs of victims who have higher level, or longer term support needs and could include trauma-informed interventions in individual or group settings, advocacy support including help to access mental health or drug and alcohol services, restorative justice conferencing, as well as practical and emotional support to navigate the criminal justice process.
The Partnership will work closely with Oxford Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC) and Trusthouse Reading to deliver the service involving co-located teams; bringing professionals with different specialisms together.
“We are delighted to have this opportunity to be involved with the new Adult Specialist Service, working with the other partner agencies to offer a more encompassing and holistic approach to the needs of the victim. We already have a long-standing working relationship with the PCC for Thames Valley and the new service will now enable us to offer the best possible support to victims, to help them deal with, and recover from, the trauma of their experiences.” Nikki Ross, Chief Executive of Partnership
A new Chief Executive for the Partnership!
Nikki Ross (left) and outgoing Director, Patsy Townsend – passing over the helm and the office keys!
The Partnership, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Established in 1993, we work across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire delivering a range of support services to those affected by crime or abuse – both victims and offenders and their families – and offering practical and emotional support, crisis intervention, advocacy and mentoring.
2019 is set to be yet another significant year for the Partnership – with the arrival on 2nd September, of a new Chief Executive Officer, Nikki Ross, who takes up the helm from retiring Director Patsy Townsend, who leaves in September after 21 years.
Nikki is no stranger to criminal justice having served in Thames Valley Police for 35 years, most recently Assistant Chief Constable Local Policing, and therefore brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge which will be invaluable. Regarding her new role Nikki commented
” I am delighted to have been appointed as the new CEO for the Partnership. It was important for me to continue to work within the criminal justice system and to continue to be able to support victims and the vulnerable. I have witnessed first-hand over the years the incredible work of the Partnership under the leadership of Patsy Townsend and although she will be a hard act to follow, I hope to do the role justice and continue to develop the relationships with partners and communities. The Partnership is a great team with everyone dedicated to helping others through a variety of programmes of work – an excellent charity to be involved with.”
The Partnership presently delivers six programmes in total, several through trained volunteers, and has earned for itself an enviable reputation and a suite of accreditations for its quality training and service delivery. The restorative justice programme (TVRJS), support for victims of exploitation, human trafficking and modern day slavery (VF Willow Project) and the Victims First Emotional Support Service are currently funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Thames Valley. Other programmes include New Leaf, which offers a through-the-gate mentoring programme for prisoners on their release back into the community, Family Matters which supports troubled families and those affected by the imprisonment of a family member or loved one, and TecSOS which supports victims of domestic abuse.
DIGNITY ON RELEASE – Please support our campaign!
Thank you to everyone who is supporting our Dignity on Release campaign in aid of the Partnership’s New Leaf and Family Matters programmes, which between them, provide support to offenders and their families from sentence to rehabilitation. We are continuing to run our campaign for the foreseeable future, to highlight key issues that undermine prisoners’ ability to successfully return to the community as well as raising funding to ensure the sustainability of the New Leaf project .
