Quakers in Criminal Justice

Spring 2023 Newsletter Download PDF

Editorial

Welcome to the very, very delayed Spring Edition (still technically 🙂) of the Quakers in Criminal Justice Newsletter. But hopefully it has been worth the wait.

These last few months have been a significant period of change for me, thankfully mostly for the better. Some of the positive changes have included new job and this being my final Newsletter as an unmarried man. It took me 52 years to find and then convince my other half to actually marry me. But as of 1st of July at about 11:00am I'll be Mr Wilgenbus - Lamb 🙂

This month, it is with a heavy heart that I step away from working within the prisons in a professional capacity, to explore a new adventure supporting 42 advice agencies around Northern Ireland. However I am already getting prison related queries and take comfort that I will still remain involved in fighting for a fairer Criminal Justice System through the likes of QICJ and Quaker Service Northern Ireland.

We have had some really excellent articles this time including a couple of reports on our recent conference in Leeds. One focusing specifically on our first speaker and the other more broadly on all the presentations and talks. If you are planning a trip to enjoy the improved weather, we have a couple of book recommendations to take with you for a deck-chair read.

There is a great article focusing on Yvonne, a volunteer with the Prisons Phoenix Trust, highlighting the importance of letter writing to prisoners. Two topics which are currently of great concern for QICJ members are the plight of older people in prison the impact of IPP sentencing. Sue and Ed deal with these topics with research and first hand experience.

As always I want to express my gratitude to you all for making my job easier. Without your commitment to producing these excellent materials I would spend all my time pleading rather than editing. You're a wonderful bunch. Thank you so much.

Jonathan Lamb
Editor

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