Nacro Justice ExChange: Mental Health in Prison
Read the latest briefing that will examine the practical steps that can be taken to support people in contact with the criminal justice system to create better futures.
Service user involvement
We believe that the people we support should be genuine partners in everything we do, whether that’s shaping the services we deliver, or influencing the campaigns we run.
We are committed to listening to and learning from the people we support, involving them in every part of Nacro, helping to shape our service delivery, inform research and policy, and create better experiences.
Ways to get involved
There are many opportunities for our service users to get involved – locally, regionally, and nationally. You can find some of the different ways you can get involved below, how to find out more, and how to get in touch.
Nacro’s Service User Advisory Board works with Nacro’s leaders to ensure the people we support have a voice and can improve things both within and outside of Nacro. The Board is made up of up to 15 service users, representing different services within Nacro. It meets around four times a year, either online or in person. No experience is needed, although membership is ideally suited to those who have already taken a lead role locally or expressed interest in local community voice initiatives.
The Justice ExChange is a national forum for Nacro service users who have had contact with the justice system. The group meets regularly and is an informal get-together where attendees can share their experiences of the justice system; contribute to our campaigns and have their voices heard by those in power to push for change while gaining skills and experience. We regularly talk with MPs and decision makers, making sure they hear about the issues that matter from those with lived experience of the system.
We work together to produce briefings on various issues that we believe could be improved, informed by not only data, but real lived experiences.
The latest Student Voice Council meeting took place in April 2024. It was a great meeting that had representation from across our Education Centres and Totton College.
The ideas and suggestions from those forums are then shared at a centre forum each term. Representatives from each centre then have the opportunity to attend the national learner forum each term to share successes, raise issues and make suggestions.
You can read the summary of the latest Student Voice Council meeting here.
In our housing services we ensure that tenants are involved in discussions around what support they need and how it is delivered. We get feedback on our services in a variety of ways, including house meetings, one-to-one support sessions, surveys, and forums. We listen to our tenants in order to ensure that our services are meeting their needs, and to help us to continuously learn and improve. And we listen to the challenges they face and work with them to inform and shape our policy and campaigning work.
‘Have your say’ and ‘you said we did’
We have a range of local forums across all our services, giving our service users the opportunity to have their voice heard. We encourage feedback in various ways, including our ‘have your say’ leaflets which are available in every service.
These allow you to submit your feedback to the team directly, ensuring that we feedback to our service users about the actions we’ve taken. These are displayed on our ‘ you said we did’ displays across all our services.
Being involved with the Advisory Board has helped me to feel confident and valued by the organisation. I have had the opportunity to be a judge for the Nacro staff awards, have been involved in the recruitment of senior staff and trustees, and inputted into the new brand.Gino - Service user involvement participant
Meet the Service User Involvement team
Artwork by Karl Davis who has lived experience of the justice system and is a member of the Nacro Justice ExChange
Andrea Coady
Head of Service User Involvement
Andrea Coady
Head of Service User Involvement
Andrea Coady is Nacro’s Head of Service User Involvement. She works directly with our learners and service users to ensure their views and experiences shape Nacro’s services and the campaigns that we run. Andrea is passionate about ensuring that everyone has a voice.
She is a member of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP High Down, volunteers with Shannon Trust, and previously worked for The Magistrates’ Association after a career in law.
Mya Clark
Service User Involvement Officer: Justice, Health, and Housing
Mya Clark
Service User Involvement Officer: Justice, Health, and Housing
Mya Clark is a Service User Involvement Officer, working across Nacro’s Justice, Health and Housing directorates. Whilst at University, Mya volunteered with Nacro in the departure lounge based at HMP Doncaster, providing practical support for people on the day of release from prison. Since graduating, Mya has worked as a community and custody accommodation advisor at Nacro, supporting people both before and after their release from prison.
She has seen first-hand the challenges people face when trying to rebuild their lives after being caught up in the justice system and so knows how important it is to offer a voice and platform to the people who are impacted most in order to try to create positive change in the system.
Andrew Yates
Service User Involvement Officer
Andrew Yates
Service User Involvement Officer
Andrew Yates is a Service User Involvement Officer, working across Nacro’s various directorates. Andrew started with Nacro in 2021 first working on the Departure Lounge project in South Yorkshire supporting people on their day of release from prison. He then became a community engagement officer and Team Manager, predominantly working to provide accommodation support for those in prison or in the community.
Andrew is passionate about making a difference and helping our service users to make a positive change for themselves but also society more widely. Andrew is also keen to give our service users a voice and to create a positive impact across the various directorates that we serve.
Get involved
If you would like to participate in service user involvement, or would like any further information on the activities outlined above, you can email us.
Email: communityvoice@nacro.org.uk
Video: Hear from Richard
Richard is a tenant in one of our housing services. He is part of our Justice ExChange forum and regularly contributes ideas for campaigns and policy work that can help people in his situation.
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The latest Student Voice Council Meeting
The latest Student Voice Council meeting took place in April 2024. It was a great meeting that had representation from across our Education Centres and Totton College.