Now available via on online livestream 🎉

Join us virtually through an online livestream if you are unable to attend the Conference in person. The livestream will cover the introductions to the day, the keynote speech, the story of one of our ambassadors, the two panel sessions and the closing remarks. We are unable to livestream both the workshop sessions and World Café. Don't miss your chance to see some of the fantastic discussions around how we can increase access to Restorative Justice. Click 'Buy Tickets' to get access to the Conference livestream. A Zoom link will be sent out after sign up. 

Welcome to our first Why me? Conference!

Do you have an interest in Restorative Justice? Do you want to make the Criminal Justice System more inclusive? Restorative Justice has the power to change lives, but there is not equal access for all. Why me?'s mission is to transform lives through Restorative Justice and we are excited to announce the launch of our new, in-person conference to discuss how more people can be empowered through the process.

This enriching one day event will bring together frontline staff, practitioners, academics, staff and volunteers working within and outside of the Criminal Justice System and Restorative Justice experts. You will spend your time sharing ideas and learning from peers about the theme of inclusivity in Restorative Justice. Join us for a day of face to face networking and discussions of best practice.

By attending you will:

- Hear and share good practice on inclusive ways of working in Restorative Justice.

- Take part in a World Café discussion to share and build upon ideas about how to make Restorative Justice more inclusive.

- Learn more about the findings from Why me?'s projects about widening participation in Restorative Justice.

- Hear from two panels of guest speakers who will debate questions such as ‘is there one Restorative Justice for all?’ and ‘how can access to Restorative Justice be improved?’.

- Network in person with others in the field.

Our speakers:

Dorett Jones - Co-founder of Genesis Consultancy, an organisation supporting individuals and groups to transform and embed anti-oppressive strategies, systems and practice. Her work in social justice movements has focused on ending violence against women and girls, racial justice and LGBTQI+ rights. Her expertise also covers innovative programmes such as "Strengthening Restorative Justice Practice Using Integrated Approaches in Responding to Violence against Women and Girls".

Gillian Slovo - Why me? Chair of Trustees Gillian is a South African writer and playwright. Gillian came to appreciate Restorative Justice following her own experiences through South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. While she had serious concerns with the approach taken in South Africa, it helped her to appreciate the importance of victims of crime getting an understanding of why they were harmed, directly from the person who had done it.

Ray Booth - Chief Executive of Barnet Mencap, a charity supporting children and adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism. He qualified as a social worker in 1991 and is also a member of Barnet's Safeguarding Adults Board. 
He has developed an interest in Restorative Justice and how it can help people with learning disabilities, and others, to overcome the hurt and anxiety when they have been abused. Ray is keen to utilise this potential to offer Restorative Justice more widely. 

Dr Sarah Maitland - Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is the Deputy Editor of the Journal of Specialised Translation and was an elected member of the Executive Council of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies. She is the author of 'What is Cultural Translation?' and 'Does Interpreting "Steal" Conflict? A Translational Perspective on Power and Restorative Justice' as well as numerous works on translation theory and practice.

Phil Champain - CEO of the Faith & Belief Forum, a UK charity that builds relationships between people of different faiths and beliefs. Phil previously worked as Director of Programmes at International Alert and was part of peace efforts in the South Caucasus, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Philippines and Lebanon. He remains engaged in Restorative Justice in the Philippines, having run two extended online courses for peacebuilders in Mindanao during the pandemic.

Joanne Bakare - Joanne Bakare has been working with St Giles Trust, an organisation that supports vulnerable young adults, for 5 years. She joined St Giles Trust as someone with lived experience in the Criminal Justice System, starting as a volunteer and then becoming a caseworker supporting young people at risk or involved with the Criminal Justice System. She now manages the St Giles Trust Custody Suite Project that oversees a team that supporting young people that come through custody who have been arrested for things like social youth violence, county lines and CSE. Through her work and also her personal life she has witnessed the positive effect that Restorative Justice can have.

Pete Wallis - Pete joined Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team in 2000 and is passionate about the benefit that restorative interventions offer. Pete has written and co-authored several books on Restorative Justice including 'What Have I Done?', a victim empathy programme and 'Understanding Restorative Justice', exploring empathy in restorative processes. Pete is a trustee and founder of the charity SAFE! Support for Young People Affected by Crime and is a trustee of The Mint House Oxford Centre for Restorative Practice. He is currently a member of the advisory board for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice.

Sam Warman - Sam Warman has been working with Belong since 2017 running a Restorative Justice service in HMP Coldingley. The service focuses on using restorative approaches to support those involved in conflict within the prison environment. He also works in a mentoring role with those released on license and is involved in community Restorative Justice cases that are referred to Belong. Prior to joining Belong, Sam spent 10 years working in the Met Police, providing him with lots of criminal justice experience and enabling him to see the clear and real benefits of Restorative Justice.

Kenya Lamb - Kenya Lamb joined the Criminal Justice Alliance in April 2022 as the new Equalities Policy Officer. She is responsible for their new 12-month project on tackling race inequality in the criminal justice system. In her previous role at Crimestoppers, Kenya worked with the most vulnerable young people across London, providing them with an alternative option to anonymously report crime. Kenya is a panel member of the Local Scrutiny Involvement Panel for the Crown Prosecution Service, an associate member of the Alliance of Youth Justice and is a member of the Youth Management Group for the Hope Collective.

Mark Healey - Mark is an independent Hate Crime Specialist and Community Development Activist. He is founder and CEO of the national anti-hate crime charity 17-24-30, organiser of #NationalHCAW, the April Acts of Remembrance, an annual H.O.P.E. Campaign and Rainbow Boroughs Project. He has over 35 years of LGBTQ+ community development volunteering, 3 years as Lambeth Council's Hate Crime Prevention Coordinator and 3 years at Real facilitating their Disability Hate Crime Project. Mark currently works for Metro Charity tackling anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime in Croydon.

Sherrall Morris - Sherrall works with community groups and writes and performs theatre based on her own experiences. She came to Why me? to get information about Restorative Justice for a play about being a victim of a disability hate crime. Although the hate crime incident had happened to Sherrall a few years previously, it still had a great effect on her. She talked through the incident with two Why me? facilitators in a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space. She is now a Why me? Restorative Justice ambassador and hopes to encourage others to speak out and tell their story.

Our topics:

- Improving restorative practice for young people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds

- Restorative Justice for LGBTQ+ hate crime

- Delivering Restorative Justice for Learning Disability and Autism hate crime

- Restorative Justice for people with English as an Additional Language

- Using Restorative Justice to address harm following violent political acts

Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with our Conference news including announcements of key speakers, the full agenda and more details on the content.

If you have any questions, would like to enquire about a group booking or would like to discuss any accessibility requirements you have, please get in touch at info@why-me.org. 

If you cancel your place 14 days or more before the event, we will offer a full refund. Between 14 days and 2 days before the event, we will offer a 50% refund and within 2 days there will be no refunds.