Volunteer Restorative Practitioner

We are recruiting for Volunteer Restorative Practitioners to join our established Restorative Justice Service; adhering to principles of restorative practice, enabling safe and high quality restorative justice and mediation facilitation in accordance with Restorative Justice Council (RJC) Practice Guidance 2020. Full training provided.

What you will do?

• You will have an opportunity to work directly with those that have been harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm caused as well as neighbours, communities or family members who are in disagreement. 
• Coordinating and facilitating restorative processes between participants.
•  Working alongside a co-facilitator and case supervisor, assessing the suitability, safety and completing risk assessments, in compliance with our policies and procedures.
• Communicating with and visiting participants at their home, at community venues, or prison, and working in close partnership with other agencies.
• Preparing participants to engage in indirect and direct communication; face to face meetings (a conference), ‘shuttle’ passing information between participants, conferencing via audio or video recordings and written communication, restorative conversations, and restorative circles, as well as sign-posting participants to other support services where necessary.
• Practitioners are expected to take a minimum of 4 cases per year, flexible hours, after initial training you will be mentored by an experienced practitioner to develop your skills/practice.
• In addition to case work, practitioners will be expected to attend a certain number of training and supervision sessions and team meetings, this may include both practical training and e-learning as part of your induction and on-going development and these sessions will include the occasional evening and weekend.
• Flexible hours and location.
• We offer a friendly and professional environment offering supervision, support and a commitment to your safety & wellbeing.
• On successful appointment, you will need to be available to attend the 4 day restorative practice training (Monday 3^rd July-Thursday 6^th July), as well as assessment and induction with the volunteer manager with ongoing one to one support.
• Commitment to volunteering with us over a 2 year period as a practitioner.
• Practitioners are subject to police vetting - previous convictions do not necessarily exclude people from volunteering will be assessed on an individual basis.

What do you need to have?

You will need the following skills:

• The ability to recognise emotions in others and to understand other people’s perspectives on a situation.
• Be approachable with a non-judgemental compassionate manner with the ability to maintain firm boundaries, respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own.
• The ability to self-reflect and respect feedback from others.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to deal with people in a sensitive manner.
• Good verbal and non-verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Good organisational skills.
• Be willing to learn about and follow Restorative Gloucestershire aims, principles polices, guidance and procedures including confidentiality and data protection.
• The ability to read and write to a good standard of English. This is due to the role requiring volunteers to read emails, complete forms and update case records.
• Have own use of the internet, an email address and computer or device as you will need to access the local Case Management System including authenticator app remotely and be able to update records. A basic knowledge of IT skills is needed and training will be given on local Case Management System.
• A full driving licence, use of a car is desirable due to the amount of travelling involved and pool cars are available for travel.
• All expenses reimbursed.
• Practitioners age requirement 18+

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.

If you are interested in becoming volunteer restorative practitioner and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’, how we can support you and an application form please contact us.

ABOUT RESTORATIVE GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Restorative Gloucestershire is the county's Restorative Practice centre of excellence, enabling people to safely share their stories, be heard, redress power imbalance and find answers

The Restorative Gloucestershire team are 5 police staff, 1 police sergeant and 20 volunteers. We are based at Police Headquarters and funded by the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner OPCC and Ministry of Justice through their Victim’s Surcharge.

We provide Restorative Justice and Restorative Mediation services which bring those harmed or those who’ve caused harm, or those affected by crime or conflict, into communication by various methods. It enables everyone affected to play a part in addressing the harm and finding a positive way forward. It is voluntary to take part for all participants.

Restorative Gloucestershire is committed to promoting the use of Restorative Practices, through facilitation, advice and by supporting others to use and develop restorative skills. The essence of Restorative Practice (of which Restorative Justice is a part) is a general approach that is solution focused, ensuring everyone has a voice, ensuring processes are fair and transparent, encouraging accountability, and working ‘with’ people rather than ‘for’ them or doing ‘to’ them.

At the heart of our work are the Restorative Questions:

·        What happened?

·        What were you thinking & feeling (at the time, and now)

·        What is the impact? (on you and others)

·        What are the needs? (outcome, answers to questions, making amends)

It is part of the Victims Code that Restorative Justice must be available and offered to all throughout the Criminal Justice journey. It is completely voluntary for all participants to take part and they can withdraw from the process at any point. It is often the case that different people feel ready to learn more about how Restorative Justice might benefit them at different times, which is why the offer should be revisited at various intervals.

Restorative Gloucestershire work in a number of different settings where conflict has occurred, for example, schools, children’s homes, communities, and across the criminal justice system. Restorative processes address conflict, build understanding and strengthen relationships between people.