Paul Crosland: Lend-It-All Man, Mediation Support & Freelending CIC

30th January 2012 Launch of "East Sussex Veg People" website

2012-01-30T09:17:00.003Z

With your support this website will connect small veg growers (and I'm not being height-ist here!) into "St Leonards Sharing" Timebank:

East Sussex Veg People website

Here is how it will work

- with your support:

You do (more of) what you like to do & bank the hours with "St Leonards Sharing" Timebank. (NB The timebank may require these hours to be of clear service to someone else before they allow them to be counted; and please note that some time spent on your allotment -if you have one- can be banked as hours owed to you)
Your credits at the Timebank can be exchanged for veg or for help with errands/chores/cleaning as well as for all the usual therapies or help from Mediation Support Ltd to transform some issue with someone that is giving you grief.
You even earn time credits/veg for coming to the October AGM for the Timebank, and deciding with the rest of us what projects the timebank should most support.

Timebanking is much more than an alternative way to buy/sell food, pay the rent and build community.

It is not just an alternative currency, but opens up a whole new way of working.

Crucial are the skills and creativity of the Timebank Broker & the Timebank Community Development Worker.

Here's me interviewing Sarah Bird from Timebanking UK about an example of the synergy that timebanking can create when money stops working for us (& seems to be working more for bankers elsewhere!)

http://stleonardssharing.info

Community Engagement and Community Development in Hastings and St Leonards

2012-01-29T07:46:00.007Z

Paul Crosland: Mediation Support Ltd & Community Development in Hastings etc

5^th Oct 2010 - Hastings Pier Fire - the catalyst for Mediation Support Ltd to move to St Leonards to “innovate in getting stuck communications unstuck & to model taking responsibility in communities”. The Hastings Observer published the mission as: “We need to act if we want justice”. As CEO, I'm passionate about “finding our power”, articulating our values/needs & getting amazing outcomes out of facing our difficulties. Together we'll generate a “more caring & sharing Hastings & St Leonards”.

I've chosen one film (of 200plus) films to put here as it has been praised for how it unfolds the Community Development Work in Hastings & St Leonards which has been partly shaped by the "Action for Happiness" agenda. Here's a September 2011 meeting with the director of Action for Happiness, Mark Williamson, showcasing & discussing how Hastings & St Leonards have set a lead in a wide-range of Action for Happiness related projects; including developing community understanding and healing in the aftermath of the pier fire:

Why not now try... - "St Leonard's Sharing"?

**********************************************************************
Notes on Community Engagement and Community Development

This is an extract from a paper circulated on the October-December 2011 University of Sussex "Community Development & Community Engagement course" (10 weeks) which I completed.
(This study is perhaps the most successful UK Community Development work that we were shown)

Over the last 7 years, the Beacon Partnership has achieved a series of dramatic health, educational, law and order, and environmental outcomes. Today, a series of initiatives contribute to the ongoing maintenance of the regeneration process. A purpose built nursery in being constructed, alongside a new youth centre. There are plans for a sensory garden, money has been secured for landscaping the original Beacon site, from which the estate takes its name. A mosaic project for street names and signs aims to bring the young and elderly to work together with the long-term unemployed of the estate.

Case Study AnalysisOur first motivation for seeking to understand the process of regeneration that occurred on the Beacon and Old Hill Estate from the perspective of complexity theory, emerged during a complexity workshop held in 2002. During the workshop, a presentation by Eve Mittleton-Kelly provoked the following response from the author:Although the presentation was nothing to do with community development, I was mesmerized by it. What I heard being described was a process which, uncannily and exactly, mirrored my intuitive responses to ‘kick starting the Beacon Project’. It placed great value on widespread networking and the creation of relationships and dialogue based on trust. Conversations, humility and respect, I now realised, contributed hugely to the creation of that all important enabling environment, which released the resourcefulness of this community to become self- organising and achieve such significant and dramatic outcomes. Sitting through that presentation was one of those rare, life-changing moments of self- enlightenment.The most significant aspect of the regeneration process on the Beacon and Old Hill estate was that, from the outset, there was no initial funding, no hierarchy, no targets, no business plan, only a shared vision of what the community wanted to be, rather than an obsession with what it had to do. Thus, the regeneration process was not a result of a predetermined plan. Rather, the process emerged as a consequence of the interactions between the members of the community, and between the community and its environment, namely the statutory agencies, the police, the council, and so forth. As the community evolved, so also the agencies and professional bodies co-evolved with the community.Prior to these processes occurring, however, it is important to pay attention to how the receptive context for change was created. Not only was the community isolated from the statutory agencies, it was also isolated from and within itself. The common response, when others suffered the effects of crime and vandalism in the community, was one of relief that it had happened to someone else. There was little or no communication, either between the community and the authorities, or amongst the members of the community themselves. Rather, as Bob Mears, the Police Community Liaison and Crime Reduction Officer was later to reflect, ‘there was an attitude among us and other people that everybody who lived on the estate was a criminal. That’s obviously not true, but there was no exchange of information.’The success of the residents’ associations, and then the partnership, consisted first and foremost in enabling relations to be formed amongst the members of the community, for people to begin to talk to each other again. As a consequence, vandalism and crime were no longer seen as other people’s problems – rather, they were problems confronting the community as a whole. In turn, the formation of these relationships enabled relationships to begin to form with the authorities, such that chains of communication between the community and the statutory agencies started to emerge. As trust spread throughout the community, so the community began to be trusted by the authorities, and the community in turn began to trust the agencies. On the basis of the formation of such relations, therefore, we can talk of a co-evolution of trust between the community and its environment. An initial series of ‘listening forums’ ultimately led to the situation where the agencies began actively to glean the views of the people in the community. The change in attitude was captured by Grenville Chappell, the Chair of the Beacon Community Regeneration Partnership: ‘You’ve got to get out there and find out what people want, not sit around and think you know best what people want.’While these interrelations doubtless constitute a necessary condition for the regeneration process, the momentum for that process came from a different quarter, a quarter which bears all the hallmarks of non-linearity. In a linear relation, the cause is ‘commensurate’ with its effect. In non-linear relations, however, small causes can lead to disproportionately large effects. It is precisely this disproportion of effect that propels the regeneration process. In the case of the Beacon and Old Hill estate, perhaps the most striking example of this is the instance of dog-waste bins. The provision of dog-waste bins on an estate is calculated according to a ration based on the number of residents in the estate – not the number of dogs. If, as is the case on Beacon and Old Hill, the number of dogs per capita is higher than average, there is a consequent lack of dog-waste bin provision. On the Beacon and Old Hill estate, the environment was blighted by dog waste. The Partnership worked to deliver a dog-waste bin provision which reflected more accurately the number of dogs on the estate. Within a very short time, dog-waste became a problem of the past. In a subsequent survey of tenants and residents, which sought to determine the single factor that had the most impact on the estate, a large majority identified the provision of adequate numbers of dog-waste bins, and the resultant improvement to the living environment for the community. Here was clear evidence of a dramatic outcome following from a small intervention, and the momentum this gave to the change process was to lead, ultimately, to a community-wide commitment to the betterment of the environment.A key element of complexity theory is the insight that, within a community or organisation, knowledge is distributed, and behaviour is necessarily localised. Macroscopic changes in the behaviour of the community or organisation as a whole are then classified as emergent phenomena resulting from the interactions between the localised changes in behaviour. This necessitates a conceptual shift from the assumption that change must be ‘managed’ from the ‘centre’. A fascinating example of this notion of localisation occurred as a direct consequence of the award of the Capital Challenge funding. While this award provided further evidence to the community of its ability to achieve successful outcomes by working together, it also necessitated, as a stipulation upon which the funding was conditional, the formation of a formal Regeneration Partnership. The effect of the formation of this Partnership, not least in terms of the trust which it built up in the authorities, was a noteworthy break in the traditional working practices of local government. Rather than maintaining sole control of the budget and decision making processes, Carrick District Council agreed to delegate some of its powers, a process which empowered the Partnership, which remained a predominantly tenant-led body, rather than a council committee, to make recommendations to the full council concerning the estate’s progress. As Mike Owen, Senior Housing Officer for Carrick District Council at the time, said: ‘It was quite brave for the authority to extend responsibility to a body controlled by residents.’ While the decision may indeed have been brave, it had the effect of ensuring that it was the specific local needs of the community which were being responded to, with local, directed, changes being the result. Perhaps the most poignant expression of this localisation of the decision making progress is to be found in the way that the Partnership worked together with the tenants to determine the order of priority for the improvement work on the buildings enabled by the award of the Capital Challenge funding. Such localised self-organisation in turn ensured that, for the community as a whole, there was clear evidence of the fairness of the prioritisation of the recladding and heating improvement work to be undertaken.
ConclusionThe Old Hill and Falmouth Beacon estate are a living example of relevant order emerging out of what was in 1995 a chaotic system. The intricate web of interactions which have formed between the community and the agencies hold the Beacon Partnership at the edge of chaos and allow the exploration to involve different individuals in new projects. The self-organisation of new social structures which emerge are able to adapt and respond to changes. There is a sense of agencies ‘acting differently’ in non-traditional ways, forging links outside of their organisational remit which contributes to this emergent order. The visibility of the change is captured in the wonderful gardens on the estate- where once prams and mattresses flourished, there is now a riot of flowers and shrubs, rockeries and raised borders. Work is ongoing to determine whether exchange visits , where communities (beginning to regenerate) are brought to Falmouth to ‘see’ and share stories can act as a vehicle for the possible transference of successful change.

(The above is the second half of the report that can be downloaded directly from www.healthcomplexity.net/files/Community_Regeneration_and_complexity.doc)

The Walking Buddha

2012-01-09T07:09:00.004Z

The Walking Buddha (of South East England)

Whilst applying for jobs in community development (eg those being established by the Hastings Trust), my longer-term main project is to co-write a TV film (set in St Leonards on Sea) entitled "The Walking Buddha (of South East England)".
At the appropriate stage I intend to meet up with an old school friend who is a script-writer for Eastenders, Casualty etc in order to propose that we join forces in co-writing.

One key influence in the gestation of the script so far has been the 3 part "Public Enemies" on BBC iPlayer; staring Daniel Mays and Anna Friel.
In "The Walking Buddha (of South East England)" the cast is as follows:
- Yvonne (who arrives home with daughter Cosette) to find her house burnt down.
- Howard from Hastings (her new partner) who gives Yvonne & Cosette shelter, but little solace.
- Dr Ambedkar, who, although he died in 1956, appears as a guide to the "more enlightened" characters.
- A blog or two eg:http://nagaloka-dream-cycle.blogspot.com
- Josh, Joey, Shane & Will (Youth involved in the house fire who take different degrees of responsibility with what they know; Josh is the one who gave Joey's mobile number to Paul Crosland, having read the appeal in the Hastings Observer by Paul Crosland's company, Mediation Support Ltd for further information about the circumstances surrounding the CCTV footage of two people at the time of the fire.
-Paul Crosland, an agent provocateur who attracts the attention of the police from time to time for his wide range of "edgy" activities, including winning the 2010 Social Innovation Camp award for coming up with the idea for "the app with most potential to reduce youth offending & imprisonment" Here's the winning presentation, with the founding ideas of Restorative Technology Ltd:

Much of the source material for the TV-film is also being put into a play format for performance at Triratna Buddhist Centres across the UK and can be found on http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com

Tony May, from Hastings Town Magazine, sent me up a treat in his 'Man of Shirts' film!

2011-12-22T15:16:00.001Z

-Yes, you can't hear me on this film; the music is better than the spoken word at times, eh?
This film (from the Maybrick44 channel) helped me reconnect with my past in playwriting, performance and being an Entertainments Officer.
The result of all the current gestation:

Ethical Outings in Hastings and St Leonards

Please take the time for (some of) these 12 films and get in touch

2011-12-15T13:18:00.005Z

What do you most like doing for others? Let's offer it within a local (Triratna?) Timebank, Let's stop marginalising people and work on creating "a more caring & sharing" community & model this to the UK!
On the Toothpaste 007 Channel I started in 2008 (and which has really flourished since moving to Hastings -25,000 views so far) I offer a dozen of the videos as ones that I've chosen for people to find most easily.
When there are over 400 to choose from, a dozen favourites does not cover the range of what I'd most like to share with you.
Thus, whilst you can go later to the YouTube site (and subscribe to Toothpaste 007 Channel?), here now is my latest selection of a dozen of my favourite videos.
Below that are my favourite blogs and web links to give you an intro to the social transformation I'm interested in engaging you in.
The blog I produced for 20 hours of time-exchange with Maria Arpa (CEO of the Charity I'm closest to -The Centre for Peaceful Solutions) is this one:
http://ps-shop.org
and here's a quick clip from that blog about Maria and her partner David and workign well with conflict:

I may sound abrupt at the start of the above clip. I push people's buttons from time to time, no doubt.
I hope you have the patience, imagination and inspiration to get back to me with your idea of how we could connect in a way that works for us (& all).

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

http://www.youtube.com/user/Toothpaste007?feature=mhee
Here's a page I'm proud of (though it still needs editing towards the bottom) about the anniversary pier fire event I put on in Hastings (& attracted Police to):
http://restorativetechnology.blogspot.com/p/1st-anniversary-pier-fire-public.html

And here's an Introduction to the Boddhisattva Ideal:
http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/audio/details?num=LOC1020

Paul Crosland AKA Lend-It-All-Man is happier by living less with money & more in a "face to face" (time) exchange, sharing & gifteconomy

2011-12-02T08:25:00.003Z

2nd December 2011, The Metro reports greater happiness amidst economic downturn.
The site I'd love you to record your interest in a healthier form of economics is:

brightontimebank.info

The times we are living in, or approaching, are transition times, when the choice is between giving up unsustainable consumption or death of our species. Logically, there is no alternative, and by sharing we can save resources and learn co-operation with each other (and harmony with the earth that sustains us).

2011 Lend-It-All Man Films

2010 Lend-It-All Man Films

The skill-set of greatest value that I want to continue to work on is that of sharing as well as that of handling our conflicts:
http://freelenders.blogspot.com
http://imperfectidealist.blogspot.com
http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com
http://restorativetechnology.blogspot.com

November 2011 - a new approach from me to supporting a more caring & sharing community

2011-11-22T08:32:00.005Z

For me, having hit a new wall (or 3) in the last fortnight, to let go of things and live a simpler life is enough work for now.
My provisional decision (arising out of this morning's 'insight') is to let go of all co-ordinator roles. However much I love Chris Johnstone's "Dream Cycle" which emphasises that for personal change it helps to dream, to plan, to do & to review, I have tried to apply it beyond it's limits. My mistake has been to apply this template to community development in such a way that I take on co-ordinator roles (often self-appointed) & push the planning & doing stages beyond my sustainable capacity & beyond any collective ownership; this has been expressed in recent painful criticism as "treating people as pawns in my own game".

What appears to be the healthier approach to take is if I now consciously limit myself to taking just two roles -as a dreamer and as a supporter.

This way I will still hold onto my visions for a more caring & sharing community; I simply acknowledge that trying to push it doesn't work. I give my time to supporting team projects that fit with my values. I offer my dreams in person and on YouTube etc and sometimes they influence people enough to generate some synergy. This synergy theme is one that is in my most popular YouTube film at present. (This film, with well over 7,000 viewers has gone down from having a rating of 95% thumbs up to just 91% in the last week):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68lTjIpnMI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Approx 500 viewers a week are presently watching "India, 2nd Most Powerful country by 2036" which involved meeting someone with a synergy dream and raising with him some time-line and human rights issues. My analysis of what is successful in the modest contribution that this big-talking video makes to the world is that it seeks to work with realities and hopes out there, then create additional ideas to support and help structure the plans and developments that are beyond the capacity of those discussing the ideas.
In Hastings I wonder now how the dreaming and supporting will manifest as I work on stepping out of co-ordinating & let the community interest company (Freelending CIC) go.
Feedback, as ever, helpful & usually (at least in the long-term) welcome.
Lots of love,
Paul

Paul Crosland's Mission Statement (revised Nov 2011)

2011-11-06T16:29:00.001Z

"I give my service to generating a more caring & sharing Hastings & St Leonards.In doing this I'm learning & practising inclusivity and happiness.I moved to St Leonards because the arrestees after Hastings Pier Fire were from St Leonards; addressing all these wounds is a driving force for me.I hope my work contributes to creating a town in which no-one wants to set light to any buildings.In working towards this goal, I treat people ('arsonist' or otherwise) with respect and dignity."

Expressing my November 2011 hopes

2011-10-28T05:59:00.002+01:00

Now, after those two introductory films, here's a letter to two colleagues (both working on a project bringing Police and young people at risk together to make music and perform);

- I copy it because it provides a flavour of what my work is about:
Dear Elise & Alison

I hope you are both well?
I wonder how your October is ending and what you most wish for in November? Having wished for it, I wonder if you'll invite me into the planning, the doing & the reviewing as I know that my November hopes relate to on-going development of the relationship with both of you.

The launch of "St Leonards Sharing" Timebank at the White Rock Hotel on 28th November (10.30-2.30) is one thing I hope you can help shape/participate in to an extent that feels comfortable for you. Currently more than one video a day is being produced on YouTube about St Leonards Sharing Timebank and a person a day being recruited onto the project - though this may just be a blip!

Alongside the Timebank work, my main working life hope for November is for me to be working on a joint project for Home Office 'anti-riot' money by Dec 1st deadline, informed by Dominic Barter's Restorative Circle work.

Again, I would really appreciate your support, and most immediately a date in the diary within a week of next Thursday for an initial meeting. Please make suggestions (other than pm on 7th or anytime on 8th).

My ideal would involve all attending coming with some feedback about this latest radio interview from my friend Dominic Barter. I would welcome any email feedback on any of the above and/or the 52minute interview below; even if you only have time for a part of it over the weekend or the early part of next week.

http://audio01.will.illinois.edu/focus111011b.mp3

Looking forward to your reply and the prospect of the synergy that the three of us can (in my mind at least!) undoubtedly bring to RJ in East Sussex.

Kind regards
Paul
0780 70 66 202 - if a call will work better for you than an email?

Asking you about your interest in happiness & sharing:
http://stleonardssharing.info

"St Leonards Sharing" Timebank videos & press release at:
http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com/p/ideas-bubbling-out-of-happiness.html

Thank you for your time reading the whole email and following up what you were moved to do.

******************************************************************************
9th November "Reality Check" communication from Alison:

"Thanks for your offer Paul but I'm really not interested. But please understand that I don't tend to hold onto things...I'm not angry anymore....just more and more perplexed.

However, this doesn't mean I want to work with you. I don't and I want to be clear about that.

I ask that you also move on and refrain from trying to bring me back 'into the fold'. It would be a pointless exercise and I'd much rather you used your limited time looking at your 'methods' with others and looking after your physical, financial and mental health. I say that as a concerned and caring human being for another- no matter how much I disagree with your principles.

Take care

Alison"

You are the trim-tab

2011-10-05T05:29:00.004+01:00

Steven Covey, in his book "The 8th Habit" talks about those people who take small positive actions which set bigger positive actions rolling. He likens these people to a small object on a mighty ship's rudder; this rudder within a rudder is called a trim-tab. By moving the trim tab, the heavy rudder moves and, from there, so does the might ship.
BE THE TRIM-TAB now:

What I'm really looking for is 2-4mins of your time on-line that will most probably make a big difference in St Leonards ; please fill in the questionnaire:
http://stleonardssharing.info

And please hold me to account in delivering the vision of "St Leonards Sharing"
Thank you for your time reading this/ actioning it.

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5827
Thanks for looking - maybe this will give a better impression: http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/community/group_is_aiming_to_get_hastings_smiling_again_1_2805957

Thank you again for your time reading this/ actioning it.

Redefining the business I'm in & the question I'm asking you

2011-07-20T12:25:00.003+01:00

Mediation Support encourages us all to process the conflicts that block our happiness and we do our best to take responsibility in our communities for the values about which we care: justice, sharing & harmony, for a start.

So the business is conflict, sharing well-being & happiness.
How do these relate to each other?
Well, only the happiest human being is not in conflict.
Skilful sharing reduces conflict & builds well-being.
My interest is in whether you (& the groups to which you belong) are in agreement with these ideas for a better life for all?
Perhaps now you could share what is the most important thing that you have to share?

Endorsements for Paul's work

2011-07-17T17:10:00.005+01:00

1) From a Metropolitan Police staff member:

2) From a Victim Liaison Officer at a Youth Offending Team:

3) From my local MP, Amber Rudd:

Amber Rudd MP
Member of Parliament for Hastings & Rye

House of Commons

Mr Paul Crosland
Action for Happiness
Southwater Area Community Centre
1-2 Stainsby Street
ST LEONARDS-ON-SEA
TN37 6LA

Dear Mr Crosland

I am writing to congratualate you for leading such an inspirational group as Action for Happiness, with the aim of making Hastings a happier place in which to live.

This is a wonderful initiative, and it is so good to know that you and your group are doing all that you can to remind us all of what is important in life, such as connecting with other people, being active and healthy, learning new skills, giving to others, and learning to appreciate the good things in our lives. Indeed, gratitude is a powerful and energising force for good.

I see that you and your group have been handing out happiness hints to commuters at St Leonards Warrior Square train station, and conducting stress-busting sessions and talks.

I thank you and your group for offering our town such a valuable and positive contribution.

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Amber Rudd

4) From the representatives of The Youth Justice Board, The Police Improvement Agency, The Prison Reform Trust and The Foyer Housing Federatation who awarded the "SafeGround" team (of whom I was part), 1st prize for the idea most likely to reduce youth custody and youth offending. (Now called Restorative Technology Ltd):

Jailbrake weekend- sicamp from Flip Jobs on Vimeo.

5) From Maria Arpa, CEO of The Centre for Peaceful Solutions

6) From Wendy Freshman, The Mediation Service

Other endorsements to be added:

From the Mayor of Hastings & St Leonards, Kim Forward
From the chair of the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust, Ray Chapman

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/observer-comment/letters/we_need_to_act_if_we_want_justice_1_2756987

Article from the 24th June 2011 Hastings Observer:

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/community/group_is_aiming_to_get_hastings_smiling_again_1_2805957

wherever I go, I take my conflicts with me; and other gifts

2011-07-15T09:35:00.001+01:00

If I had to summarise 22 years of learning about co-operation in the face of crime, I'd say that my main shortcoming was not learning about Deep Democracy earlier. If it is practiced well, I don't see it likely that any future Restorative Justice project would fail.

Beyond our habit of burying our conflicts, or just pushing them around

2011-07-15T04:58:00.000+01:00

"Deep Democracy & Restorative Justice" workshop planned for July 2012. Subscribe to newsletter to stay informed on this & other related community-building initiatives: SUBSCRIBE to free updates from Mediation Support Ltd: http://www.mediationsupport.info/subscribenewsletter.html

Invitation sent today to the author of "Find Your Power"

2011-06-28T08:19:00.003+01:00

Click on http://agoodweek.info for more of this

Dear Chris

I hope this email reaches you well. Things are well in Hastings and the Mayor is supportive of the lead being set by the 'Hastings & St Leonards - Action for Happiness' group that I lead.
She's coming to my office at 10am for a photo shoot, and I may well ask her if she'll write to you to invite you to deliver something akin to the first Bristol Happiness lecture (that I was proud to have attended).

Yours in peace,
Paul
('Hastings & St Leonards -Action for Happiness' co-ordinator)

also
CEO, Mediation Support Ltd
Southwater Area Community Centre,
2 Stainsby Street,
St Leonards On Sea,
East Sussex,
TN37 6LA

"Those who realize that we are all heading for death will compose their quarrels."The Dhammapada, verse 6.

2011-06-28T08:00:00.003+01:00

What does Mediation Support Ltd do:
"We innovate in getting stuck communications unstuck and people taking responsibility in their communities".

A free 'ApologyPlus' service to process your grievances/conflicts is available to all enquirers, and extra service is available for those who were on Hastings Pier on 5th October 2010

Mediation Support Ltd pricing structure

From 2006-2011 the work of all Mediation Support Ltd staff and associates was charged at £30/hour.
From 2011 onwards all work is supplied on the basis that you make a donation according to how satisfied you are with the work done and how you value the time and other resources that Mediation Support Ltd have put in to supporting you. If we agree to take on your concerns, we try our best to find ways to help you meet your needs without compromise.

The summer months

2011-05-21T11:25:00.008+01:00

"To boldly generate a more caring & sharing Hastings & St Leonards."-This is now part 1 of the Mediation Support Ltd vision.
A marginal seaside town such as ours will experience the depth of monetary economic difficulty more than less-deprived areas and will hopefully be able to lead the way in valuing the non-monetary economy and inspiring others that the core economy can be better run with little money involved and many other benefits in terms of social capital being built:
******************
The following summary of my offerings to the world in general, and Hastings & St Leonards in particular, comes from:
http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com/p/those-who-have-made-good-week-happen.html

Paul's pitch 1 - work with me & colleagues on a grievance you have

Please email or phone: (contacts via www.telephonemediation.org.uk). (UK-wide service)

For ALL those who were on Hastings Pier on 5th October 2010 and all those who want to set an example to them, Mediation Support has provided the Sussex People's Justice Service (www.peoplesjustice.org.uk) and the sussex community blogspot. Thus, Mediation Support Ltd is -in a mediation role rather than an evidence-gathering role- compiling part of the required Victim Impact Statement to engage the people on the pier and providing film footage (public and private) for relevant people to see on YouTube.

This is Restorative Justice:
- Repair harm that has been caused
- Restore a sense of dignity, security and justice.
- And reintegrate all into peaceful co-existence.

So, Paul's most passionate pitch is that we co-create restorative circles throughout i
Hastings/St Leonards & show the wider world how vital a "marginal seaside town" can be!!

If this is too big a vision for us to work on together, then let's start with:

http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com
*****************************************************

"Hastings Justice" Facebook Group

2011-04-21T23:58:00.002+01:00

#hastingsjustice Facebook group for those short-changed in terms of #justice in #Hastings & SL: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_217497271600346&ap=1 @HastingsObs @paulcrosland @HPWRT

Sometimes the free iPhone from Freelender records films sideways!

2011-04-14T17:31:00.011+01:00

To borrow an iPhone better than the one that filmed the clip below, go to www.freelender.org
As the leading UK-based environmental think tank said of the work of Freelending CIC, which I co-direct:
"Local sharing schemes like Landshare, Hospitality Club and Freelender.org mean you don’t need to own your allotment, car or drill, and you can sofa-surf your way around the world." (Forum for the future)

Below, filmed sideways, is a 2011 update in relation to winning the 2010 Social Innovation Camp:

And here is the presentation we made as the 'Safeground team':

(More about this is on www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com)

"Paul Crosland is CEO of Restorative Technology Ltd and CEO of Mediation Support Ltd; organisations which are re-locating to Hastings in the wake of the fire in order to support the learning that can come from damage to (heritage) property and support the creation of a community where such destruction is less likely in the future.
(The People's Justice service is just one way provided by Mediation Support Ltd to begin this work)

Since 2001 Paul's work has included providing training, conferences, publications and support to mediation services and restorative practitioners and policy advice to government. During his 5 years as Head of Restorative Justice at the national charity for mediation services, Mediation UK, Paul won contracts with the Youth Justice Board and received a personal invitation from the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street to be thanked for his work “on behalf of the victims of crime”. His previous work was as a criminologist and a volunteer neighbour mediator. Paul has trained in workplace mediation and, for a while, specialised as a co-ordinator of prison based restorative justice projects: www.restorativeprisons.org.uk; work which he hopes to return to in the context of Sussex Prisons after 2012. In 2010 Paul was part of the team that won the Social Innovation Camp for the best mobile/web-based idea likely to reduce youth custody and youth offending; work which is now funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and is headed by Paul, as CEO of Restorative Technology Ltd.”

Our (virtuous) intentions in meeting here (virtually)?

2011-04-09T11:47:00.003+01:00

The web is a battle ground for me, and I suspect in some way, for you too? Where the conflict is is in relation to what the web is for? My use of it is both about 'What can I grasp?'and 'What can I give?' When I engage with the web with an intention of giving, I experience open, expansive states. This I like much more than when I let the web ensnare my tendencies towards greed, hatred and confusion about what's most important now.

I list on this page only the sites on which I give the most; other uses of the web are confessed in www.theimperfectidealist.blogspot.com; but why would you want to read my confession?
****************************************
"When you can do nothing else, you can always give"
You can start giving:

by starting a difficult communication: www.peoplesjustice.org.uk
by sharing something you have: www.streetbank.com

**************************
Comment on the use of technology for healing: www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com

Be wryly amused about how I even try and bring the healing of 'being with nature'into a blog: www.whatkindofwater.blogspot.com
Be even more amused at Paul following the wry advice of a friend to create a blog of my newesr blogs!: www.paulsnewestblog.blogspot.com; a meta-blog, no less.

Call in at the "generosity Head Quarters" in Hastings (or take the virtual tour):
http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com/p/mediation-support-ltd-at-southwater.html
Kind Regards
Paul

Thought for the day on Restorative Justice

2011-04-01T07:39:00.003+01:00

Here is: Thought for the day on Restorative Justice

from “ordained Buddhist”, Vishvapani, from the Triratna Buddhist Community.

(For Your Information I am also working to become an ordained Buddhist within the Triratna Buddhist Community.)

And here are Vishvapani's other Thoughts for the Day

Vishvapani's website: www.vishvapani.org

NB When I last bumped into Vishvapani and asked him for a quick thought for the day, he said this in a deep (feigned Oriental?) voice:

"Body like mountain, Mind like sky, Be Buddha!"

"The Imperfect Idealist" - slight delay in publication

2011-03-27T11:08:00.004+01:00

The Imperfect Idealist series of Books:

1) The Imperfect Idealist & 40 other cases of Restorative Justice
[available on Amazon Kindle 2011, on request. Kindles can be requested via Paul's iShare Kindles blog or www.freelender.org]
2) The Imperfect Idealist gets over his wish to be understood (first)
3) The Imperfect Idealist and the 6 (Im)perfections
4) The Imperfect Idealist and the 3 Jewels (My relationship to the Triratna Buddhist Order)
5) The Imperfect Idealist at 66; looking back at 44 & 22 again.
[due out in the year 2032 in who knows what format.]
6) The Imperfect Idealist; 88 and not out. Howzat!

www.imperfectidealist.blogspot.com

Contents of this blog & an Introduction on film to Sussex People's Justice

2011-01-10T14:38:00.003Z

Now this blog has grown much longer than intended to update you on the areas of Paul Crosland's work, the following (selective) contents have been added:

Please give the gift of an education for less than £1 per day
Restorative Technology Ltd's funding from NESTA
1,000 Benefactors in Hastings - and a decent "support & accountability system"
Clarifying my September 2011-2012 plans
The Peoples Justice Website; not just for people from Sussex!
A tour of the Peoples Justice site launched 5th November 2010
Have you voted for your £500k to be spent on incarcerating two arsonists yet?
...
Potted Biography for Paul Crosland

Introduction on film to Sussex People's Justice:

Please give the gift of an education for less than £1 per day:

2010-12-24T02:55:00.013Z

www.nagaloka-dream-cycle.blogspot.com

I've just returned in 2011 from filming students at the Nagaloka Institute, Nagpur, India. The Men students share their visions here:
Ajit
Arya (in English)
Bishnu
Bhagwan (in English)
Bhijay (in English and in Hindi)
Hemlal
Kamal
Nikass (in English and in Chakma, with translation text provided)
Raj Shakya
Sujeet (with a translator speaking the English after the Hindi)
Women Students:
Prema
Pratigya
Prayenka
Seema
Soni
Sonya
http://nagaloka-dream-cycle.blogspot.com/p/funding.html
100% of your money donated through Mediation Support Ltd goes directly to the Nagaloka Institute:

If you want to support one or more students complete their year at the Nagaloka Institute (which costs £28 per student per month), you can pay into The Mediation Support Ltd bank account- Ask your bank to transfer into the Mediation Support Ltd account (details on request) or post a cheque payable to Mediation Support Ltd to:
Paul Crosland (Nagaloka fund c/o Mediation Support Ltd)
Southwater Area Community Centre,
1-2 Stainsby St,
St Leonards on Sea
E. Sussex
TN37 0SY
Funding request from Nagamitra for £28 for a student's monthly support

Restorative Technology Ltd's funding from NESTA

2010-12-14T21:33:00.004Z

The National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts are funding a pilot project being provided by Restorative Technology Ltd

"The Restorative Technology Ltd wider vision is both to enable increased understanding between those involved in and affected by crimes and also to encourage responsibility being taken by all who can contribute to generating safer societies." (Director and CEO -Paul Crosland)

The Restorative Technology Ltd (draft) business plan is here, and you can offer to support the development of this work by emailing Paul Crosland via the Mediation Support Ltd email contact form here.
If you are from a Youth Offending Team with a demonstrable record of high quality victim contact work (and/or a high victim participation rate), Restorative Technology Ltd may be able to offer in 2011 low-cost-to-user sessions in which the SafeGround software can be used for Restorative Justice staff to role play cases, communicating via video-messaging and text messaging.
For more about NESTA's Reboot Britain work; of which Restorative Technology Ltd's SafeGround project is one of the 12 innovations in delivery of public services, see here.

1,000 Benefactors in Hastings - and a decent "support & accountability system"

2010-12-01T14:23:00.000Z

When I start to work in 2011 to raise standing order commitments in Hastings, it is important to me that my work is accountable to the supporters of the following organisations:
1) Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust
2) Freelending Community Interest Company
I propose an annual meeting at which I am held to account for my actions in Hastings in relation to the above organisations; held accountable by the 1,000 supporters of those two organisations whom I intend to sign-up.
Any other ideas welcome as to how, as an 'in-comer' I get the balance of accountability & support right for my work in Hastings?

Clarifying my September 2011-2012 plans

2010-11-10T14:19:00.005Z

For the year from September 2011, I plan to give my time, prioritised as follows:

Developing the Peoples Justice Service and Mediation Support Ltd
Developing the Criminal Justice System's equivalent of the People's Justice Service with partner Youth Offending Teams (For this work, payment is from Restorative Technology Ltd)
Promoting www.streetbank.com in Hastings & St Leonards (supported by Freelending CIC, of which I am a co-director)
Returning to active work as a Trustee of the RJC (after my sabbatical year)

The Peoples Justice Website; not just for people from Sussex!

2010-11-10T14:07:00.005Z

The first three cases (in three days) on http://peoplesjustice.org.uk are as follows:

Hastings Pier Fire -a Hastings resident starting private communication with the "arsonists" (and selectively allowing some of it onto YouTube)
London (Haringey) 'ambushing by 4 youths'
London (Barnet), theft of cycle accessories

I hope that the planned Autumn 2011 BBC documentary about Hastings Pier will clarify what actually happened; helping the community move on from the rumour-mongering. To get questions answered and issues worked through is the contribution that the Peoples Justice Service is here for. Not just for the pier burning; visit the site to explore how to gain more control in the wake of a crime on http://peoplesjustice.org.uk

A tour of the Peoples Justice site launched 5th November 2010

2010-11-10T13:46:00.001Z

Ironic that I was also a crime 'victim' on 5th November 2010, the website launch date. I am pursuing justice with the individuals (who I don't know) through the People's Justice Website and posting a notice at the site of the crime in East Finchley to incentivise their participation.

Have you voted for your £500k to be spent on incarcerating two arsonists yet?

2010-10-09T11:07:00.003+01:00

-or did you vote for the money to go to Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT)?

Vote on the www.sussexcommunity.blogspot.com (the poll is on the left, just press 'Page Down' on your keyboard once)

Hastings Pier being burned down; so?

2010-10-06T20:10:00.002+01:00

OK, so there is a bigger issue in the world than Hastings Pier having burned down:

I was asked "Why the particular interest in Hastings Pier being burned down"?
Well, I'm moved by it, friends and family live there, the community is so affected, 'arsonists' have been caught, and I want to run a particular web-based system of video messaging there, leading to restorative processes and eg a community that is an exemplar of working with disaffected youth. I guess that's the short version of why.

SafeGround Management -innovation in Victim-Offender Mediation

2010-10-05T11:27:00.008+01:00

SafeGround is a "Reboot Britain" project funded by the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

SafeGround provides a platform to support a facilitated mediation process between victim and offender, and was the winning project at the 2010 Social Innovation Camp (www.jailbrake.org). The judges who awarded the SafeGround team top prize were from the Youth Justice Board, the Prison Reform Trust, the Police Improvement Agency and the Foyer Housing Foundation.

NESTA, funding our work through "Restorative Technology Ltd", has also produced the 'Radical Efficiency' report in which they acknowledge the work of a friend in Brazil who is innovating, clarifying and offering Restorative Justice to great effect:

'A great example of a new entrant to an issue bringing passion, naive intelligence and insights from elsewhere is Dominic Barter, who founded restorative circles,"

(I have paraphrased p11 of the report here; see p42-43 for much more about RJ in Brazil)

To see any of the Interviews 1-6 with Dominic about his Restorative Justice work, about Radical Efficiency and SafeGround, please go to my YouTube Channel:
Toothpaste007

SafeGround1 and SafeGround2
On April 2nd 2010, following a meeting between Aleksi Knuutila and Paul Crosland, Aleksi published to the SafeGround group that "Paul will pursue building up a Safe Ground that would work outside of the youth justice system, sharing the same technology behind it, and would appreciate any help with that. This will be called SafeGround2 for now."
Update: SafeGround2 (as it was called) will be launched by November 5th 2010 at the website www.peoplesjustice.org.uk

Piloting SafeGround1 in Devon is progressing, and the first report back to NESTA (primary funders for Restorative Technology Ltd's work) in due in the last week of November 2010.

"Paul, where are you trying to get to?"

2010-08-26T04:20:00.001+01:00

I'm often asked why I've chosen a particular course of action. The question is eg.What are you trying to get out of this, Paul?

What I'm looking for is ways for us to step into co-operation and out of all the other boxes which we choose to inhabit for very understandable reasons. (The main boxes I'm talking about here are the strategies of competition, avoidance, concession or even compromise, all options which often short-change ourselves and each other).
Living in the competition box, which is where I want to step from into co-operation, keeps me awake at night. I wake up, fearful of attack and plan a new line of defence. (It is 4am now as I write this).
Most probably, anyone who sees themselves in major competition with me experiences me as some kind of threat, rather than potentially their strongest ally, which I may well be underneath all the posturing for status/position.
My strategies for finding allies are experienced as challenging to some people as I like to know early on how far I can trust people; can I be 'safe' with them when the values I hold dear are being challenged by those who have little experience of restorative approaches?
Dear reader, I welcome any support which helps me de-escalate whatever conflicts I have needlessly escalated.
I also welcome any learning we can do that helps prevent this again, so that none of us choose a 'Power Over' approach to the other when a 'Power With' relationship is available.
The moment anyone accuses anyone of having done something wrong -eg a breach of confidentiality- we have crossed the divide between 'power over' and 'power with'.
I'm not saying that there is no 'wrong' and 'right' that can be adjudicated upon; I'm simply saying that I prefer to be seen for what my intentions were at the time I did what I did. By building the understanding of intentions as well as the other's experience of harm, a new form of justice (restorative justice) becomes possible.
When I do something that is seen as harmful, I want to learn about the harm I have done and learn to raise my level of consciousness such that I can find a better way next time to honour my best intentions without causing harm.
If restorative justice is a passion for you too, then please join me in discussing how we build both co-operative systems and restorative systems for when conflicts, however small, inevitably arise.
This blog puts forward ways in which anyone can begin building trust with their neighbours and be able to deal restoratively with whatever difficulties arise.
More resources on restorative justice -to which my colleagues and I welcome contributions - can be found at www.restorativejustice.pbworks.com.

The scope of this "Paul Crosland additional info" blog

2010-07-30T11:57:00.058+01:00

Here I'm chairing the event "Restorative Justice and Social Change: How NVC contributes" (20th April 2009)

If you want to read more about RJ and nonviolent communication, I recommend this page written by me and colleagues for another website.
A fuller version of ongoing nonviolent communication and restorative justice work will be developed on www.restorativejustice.pbworks.com/nonviolent_communication.

This blog is an invitation to you to join in/consider any of a number of conversations. I hope you share some of these interests:

living with a greater sense of community/belonging
healing hurts
sharing what we've got

You do? Great, then I hope we'll soon be in a conversation where I get to listen to your hopes and ideas. Once we've each checked that we understand what the other wants to see in terms of a better world, we can see how we can build part of it with mutual support.
This blog ends with my CV; more generally it is opportunity for you to get more of a sense of my background and what makes me so passionate about Restorative Justice. I am most passionate about the participatory approach called 'restorative circles' which has evolved (since 1995) in Brazil and is now receiving much recognition:

Dominic's work is widely recognised and now summarised well in pages 42-45 of the 'Radical Efficiency' report by NESTA, "the UK's foremost independent expert on ...innovation"; innovation which addresses social needs en route to the 'Big Society' of which the PM et al dream.
On the 4th August 2010, I recorded 7 'chunks' of interview with Dominic, which are available via the YouTube website; this being interview chunk No 4:

Paul and Dominic discussing the Radical Efficiency' report by NESTA (which has many references to Dominic's Restorative Circles work in Brazil)

Paul's passions beyond (& related to) Restorative Justice:

Developing on-line tools to help our conflicts "blossom" and to be well-managed without proliferating. My experimentation in this began when I launched ApologyPlus in 2006 with Marshall Rosenberg. This type of on-line conflict work (using restorative practitioner facilitated texts, audio and video messaging) continues now within the Safeground project, run by Restorative Technology Ltd, a NESTA supported project.

Promoting sharing as a key area of growth in times of resource shortage/ environmental destruction. eg Freelending Community Interest Company's freelender.org website. If you want a site that looks slicker then, as my alter-ego, "Lend It All Man", I recommend ecobees.com , ecomodo.com and letsallshare.com. As a co-director of Freelending CIC, linked to freecycle UK and friendly with Freegle UK too, I attempt to bring all relevant players in the 'sharing and gift economy' together.

"Local sharing schemes like Landshare, Hospitality Club and www.Freelender.org mean you don't need to own your allotment, car or drill..." (Forum for the Future, a leading UK think-tank). See the freelenders blog for amusing stories of the growth of this new economics (some of the players who are making the 'next step' links to fractional ownership and/or 'high-tech shanty towns')

Fundraising for the dignity and opportunity of those short-changed by India's caste system by supporting Dalit-run charities and other Karuna.org projects.

Building communties with shared spiritual goals, as modelled by the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Perhaps from this site you get the picture that I spend much of my time developing, commissioning and/or contributing to websites?
Face-to-face work I do includes:

fundraising
living in Buddhist communities and developing 'team-based right livelihood'
restorative justice caseworker (eg in Magistrates/Crown Courts on behalf of the Centre for Peaceful Solutions)
interviewing people for YouTube (user name toothpaste007) using the freelender.org iPhone

The phrase I like that describes my web work is "Digital Disruption":

"Digital technologies are ‘disruptive’ in that they enable new forms of provision that meet user needs better and at lower cost.
Successful internet tools are scalable, personal, collaborative and can be extraordinarily cheap to develop. The web disrupts traditional services by cutting out the middle-man, providing greater flexibility and offering people goods and services which are highly tailored to their needs. In short, they put the service user in control.

The internet cannot alone heal the sick or collect bins, but it can be used to assist the design and delivery of our public services. Web and mobile platforms that offer people the ability to interact with one another and with information and institutions are particularly useful for enabling the kind of action that could prove central to delivering radical efficiency." (Digital Disruption -case studies, 2010, NESTA, London)

My priorities as a restorative practitioner in relation to: victim comfort, a burglar's life and/or the safety of the public?

2010-07-30T11:21:00.006+01:00

At HMP Bristol I was RJ Coordinator. I write this blog entry due to all the new coalition governments interest in restorative justice as a penal reform measure:

Observer article: Criminals should say sorry
Follow-on article: Restorative Justice is not just a fad

My concern is that restorative justice develops in a way that doesn't just serve one interest group at the expense of the lives of others.
Whilst I paid much attention to 'victim satisfaction', I was unwilling to prioritise a victim's comfort above the risk of an offender taking a lethal overdose of drugs if he didn't come out of the restorative meeting with a believable plan for change.
Beyond the life of that offender, what was at stake was the safety of the public at large; the 'recidivist burglar' has much to teach us if we want to break the cycle of crime.
This was my position at HMP Bristol and in 2008 it became a resigning issue.
The conflict underlying my resignation is very alive for me; all the more pertinent as the Criminal Justice System considers ways to cut costs and deliver better results.
I suggest that we start by treating prisons not as 'Toxic Waste Centres' but as 'valuable recycling centres for safer society'.
I look for others interested in sharing their work on
generating restorative prisons.

Radical Efficiency = Saving Public Money eg Restorative Justice

2010-07-28T11:45:00.025+01:00

I've worked in restorative justice, and more specifically victim-offender mediation, since the 20th Century, as evidenced on the CV parts of this blog. I've worked in many different roles within a movement that seeks:

to get harms repaired
to get this done with respect
to learn from each other's suffering
to leave people empowered to lead law-abiding lives.

What we surely all want from Restorative Justice in the wake of a crime is for action to be taken; actions that work for victims, offenders, communities and the criminal justice system. Actions that generate a healthier future for us all, having 'sucked the marrow' out of the conflicts and pains we've been through.

A justice system that respects all, restores dignity, heals social rifts and can easily win public confidence is 'The Holy Grail'.

In relation to this holy grail, I no know one better than Dominic Barter to talk to; the guy who is (to me) the most inspiring restorative practioner in the world, Dom's work has been summarised in the report entitled 'Radical Efficiency',p42-45, 2010,NESTA -London.
http://www.nesta.org.uk/news_events/events/assets/events/radical_efficiency_launch
(NB NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts ).

Please note that NESTA has funded the first stages of setting up the 'Safeground team' in which I work. Safeground -and Restorative Technology Ltd- has produced software (under wraps) for a facilitated web communication tool for restorative justice.
NESTA has also chosen Safeground as one of their 10 case studies of digital disruption:
http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/public_services_lab/reboot_britain/assets/features/safe_ground
All 10 Case studies and some valuable introduction about Digital Disruption is at:
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/DD_CaseStudies.pdf

Further updates will follow in relation to:

Safeground1 (facilitated by a number of youth offending teams)
Safeground2 (restorative approaches for the wider general population).

The Jailbrake Competition Film -won by our SafeGround project, has been released

2010-07-09T14:48:00.000+01:00

Re-living a weekend of intensity and success of the safeground team, captured on film:

Jailbrake 2010 from The People Speak on Vimeo.

(from www.jailbrake.org)

Which side are you on?

2010-07-02T15:15:00.010+01:00

My experience is that people (including myself) are deeply attached to 'sides' and to conflicts that run deep for years.

Again, when working as a restorative justice co-ordinator at HMP Bristol, the staff and the prisoners wanted to know:"Which side are you on?"

Some people I met found it hard to feel trust until they could get a clear sense of 'which side' you were on.
And trust-building is perhaps the most important aspect of any project's success; well worth a heavy investment of time.
Once there is enough understanding of where each other is coming from, it becomes much quicker to make and enact action plans that no one undermines.

In the name of effective co-operation, it helps to be able to recognise 'the path of undermining behaviours': Sarcasm & 'put-down' jokes, excuses, gossip, withdrawl from talking to one another, 'go-slow' working practices, strike, open confrontation and/or separation.
In relation to someone in your past (or present), which of these behaviours have you partaken in? Some of them? All of them?
- Great, it helps to recognise the pattern and the cost paid.

Myrna Lewis points out in an invaluable book called "Inside the No" (available from freelender.org), her "five steps to decisions that last".

I paraphrase these as:

Listening
Compassionate response to difference
Recognise the roles you are playing, and increase the democratic holding of these roles
To the dissenters to any suggestion ask: "What would it take for you to come along?"
Recognise whether you are operating within or without the Deep Democracy Paradigm and make adjustments

So back to 'which side are you on?'
Saying to offenders: I'm on your side and I'm also on the victims' I would suggest does not amount to an adequate answer.

Cultural Baggage
Not only does the mainstream that try to create heroes and villains.
Even when I've participated in counter-cultural movements I've seen a simplistic polarisation and joined in such 'peace movement' songs as:

"Which side are you on?, which side are you on?
Are you on the side of genocide, which side are you on?"

Was this song over-simplistic and generalising? Yes - and no and neither and both?

What may be lost if taking the victims' side
In Restorative Justice practice it's often all too easy for the practitioner to come down on the side of the victim. (And some practitioners insist that it also hard within the criminal justice system to actually put the victim first, a view which sometimes leads to more imbalanced behaviour as a dangerous way of handling a perceived 'power imbalance').
To come down on the side of the victim would be a big mistake if building safer societies is more important to you than helping victims feel better.
I know that to say something other than 'the victim must be priority' is a tough thing to say; it was a resigning matter for me at HMP Bristol.
(If you are a prospective colleague etc, in order to build trust aand understanding of the principles for which I stand documentation about my resignation is available on request)
If coming down on the side of the victim is something to guard against in Restorative Justice practice, so to are the following:

to come down on the side of the offender
to come down on the side of the community
to come down on the side of the criminal justice system

I come down on the side of 'systemic win', an outcome far more complete than the win-win outcome. Win-win outcomes between a couple of stakeholders often generate waste/hurt elsewhere.
Ideally (and my main occupation appears to be 'idealist') we use pain and waste to generate resources in closed-loop systems. See the writings on permaculture for more of this.
Ideally, said Gandhi, we generate small scale models of the larger change we want to see. For me this means trust-building, honouring difference and ensuring that all belong and can live with dignity. It starts with whatever organizations we choose to be in, and it is not just about the stated vision and mission of the organisation:

"Often the organization's declared vision, structure and model are almost irrelevant compared to its ability to incorporate differences of opinion and diverse styles of communication. If a group succeeds at diversity, it is a successful community and will work. If it cannot do this, it fails at the deepest spiritual level of community, becomes unsustainable within itself and does little good for the world around it."

(From Arnie Mindell's seminal book: "Sitting In The Fire" -Link1; Link2; Wikipedia on Worldwork; freelender copy of book; Amazon Link)

Come join me, sitting in the fire.
- Now there's an invitation you may find hard to resist.

My favourite explanation of why someone does what they do comes from Arnie Mindell (p43 City Shadows)

"As far as I know my goals seem to be:
1) to achieve what I interpret to be unequivocal positive response from the client
2) to get the same response from the environment
3) to enjoy myself to the utmost
& 4) to appreciate the nature of difficult situations.

Obviously I have to be wide awake about myself because not every client will automatically join me in these expectations."

Are you, as a potential colleague (or client of mediation services) provisionally willing to let me know your goals, and whether they enable you to work with difficult situations?
Colleagues and clients who are willing to 'walk towards the conflict' (Dominic Barter's phrase) are those I value the most, and will often work with just for the love of it.

'Lend-It-All Man' -freelender.org and 'The Moneyless Man' all in the online Guardian

2010-06-30T08:23:00.010+01:00

Challenging articles from the Moneyless Man on Guardian on-line

My work with Edmund Johnson on freelender.org has been recognised in:

The Moneyless Man: A year of freeconomic living (by Mark Boyle) -see text of page 144-145 here
The Guardian (29th June 2010 article on freelender.org, freecycle, freegle and our most similar sharing and gift economics colleagues, ecomodo.com and letsallshare.com) :

"If you have stuff you want to share, but not give away, there are organisations that look after that also. Freelender.org allows you to post whatever items you own (and willing to share) – such as DVDs, sewing machines or a beach hut – and then borrow whatever items you need temporarily. And just like the capitalist economy, there is choice, with Letsallshare.com and Ecomodo.com taking a slightly different slant on the same concept. Resources and money are saved, neighbours brought together, and friendships made." (The Guardian, Moneyless Man)

The 'Lend-It-All Man' blog began today: The Lend-It-All Man makes the usual mistakes;
the first video

Next Steps?
Why not join "The Lend-It-All Man" in offering what you can on freelender.org and seeing what it's like to open to a world of generosity. The 'New Society' you can create around you starts with you sharing.
Register at freelender.org here, then add a sewing machine, a beach-hut or just a DVD.
(Borrow a Beach Hut Blog)

'Safeground' mock-up shared -along with Easter Egg -in Devon

2010-04-02T11:51:00.003+01:00

-the Easter egg was first prize in the jailbrake.org competition

The Safeground Project wins Jailbrake.org - The 2010 Social Innovation Camp

2010-03-29T11:32:00.004+01:00

Having met over the jailbrake.org weekend, Aleksi and I now email/discuss over the main Safeground project issues and set up Restorative Technology Ltd in June 2010. The wider Safeground Team now use the Safeground Google Group

Mediation Support Ltd and freelender.org -both are ways to work with difference, build understanding, trust and sustainability

2006-06-08T11:44:00.050+01:00

Our future will be determined significantly by how we handle our conflicts, how we share what we have and how we learn to build systems without waste. Blame culture creates massive waste and threatens our sustainability as a species on this planet.

Other approaches to conflict and possessions generate sharing, safety and growth. Mediation Support Limited supports the development of www.freelender.org and other initiatives building trust and resilient communities.
Having spent many key years in higher education I have an imclination/specialism towards understanding and criticizing. 9 or 10 of my 13-14 years in university (studying or employed) were when I was aged 25-35
At 35 I moved into 5 years working for a national charity. Since then, aged 40 I've had some official employment in a range of locations from another charity office to a prison to door-knocking as a charity fundraiser. Simultaneously in these years since I turned 40 I've worked just as much within the context of building companies which innovate in the fields of conflict and sharing.
For background information, click the picture above to see a minute-long interview from "The Moral of the Story". On this ITV1 programme, Paul explained how ApologyPlus (-more than sorry) and Mediation Services (e.g.123 telephone mediation) can produce transformation for 'victim' and 'offender'.

As Director of Mediation Support Ltd, Paul has committed the company to putting 30% of accumulated profits to the following charities:
The Restorative Justice Consortium; (NB. I am a trustee of this UK Charity; taking a sabbatical from September 2010-2011)
The Centre for Nonviolent Communication;

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Paul set up Mediation Support Lt d in 2006 as a strategy to share and develop the work of others who work with conflict. From 2007, Mediation Support Ltd has prioritised the conflict and change involved in the transition to a socio-economic order that is less dependent on oil.

The Transition Movement is about actively reducing our use of non-renewable power in ways that increase the quality of our lives.

(Sustainable Local Communities).
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Paul intends to convert Mediation Support Ltd to a Community Interest Company within the next year, and would like to hear from you if you want Mediation Support to grow.

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The rest of this page provides background information about Paul, written as a strategy to speed up the key processes of building our (potential) working relationship. Please let me know how you want to work with me by emailing me; other working opportunities will be available on www.mediationsupport.info

Biography and Inspirations:
Since 2001 (including 5 years as Head of Restorative Justice at the national charity for mediation services, Mediation UK) Paul's work has included providing training, conferences and support to mediation services and restorative practitioners. His previous work was as a criminologist and a volunteer neighbour mediator. Paul has trained in workplace mediation and specialised as a co-ordinator of prison based restorative justice projects.

Since 2007 Paul has been in regular communication with the restorative practioner by whom he is most inspired - Dominic Barter. Dominic works both in Brazil and as an international restorative justice consultant.
Some Web-based information about Dominic's Work:

Dominic being interviewed in detail on the nature of empathy (2009) Video 2; Video 3.

Dominic's description of restorative processes is as follows:
" We're talking about community processes based on circle-practices in which those involved in a conflict and members of their respective communities meet as equals with an explicit intention to:
- Repair harm that has been caused
- Restore a sense of dignity, security and justice.
- And reintegrate all into peaceful co-existence.
And to do that through a process of guided dialogue which empowers, heals, and connects, so that action is facilitated, both at an individual and a collective level, for mutual benefit."
(Dominic Barter)

The Complexity of Conflict from Restorative Circles on Vimeo.
(More articles about Dominic's work:

The main website about restorative circles in Dominic's main website is www.restorativecicles.org)

Paul writes, "Both Dominic and the NVC-UK Network have greatly advanced my learning about restorative processes involving substitutes. A substitute who has trained in being able to hear what's important to you and express their authentic needs can provide a process that deepens understanding. This creates opportunities to find ways to get the needs met that, whilst unmet, are causing you pain. Distance deepens conflict and meeting a substitute might be a step towards meeting the actual person(s) with whom there is a conflict. Seeing how restorative processes do not require the engagement of the other enlarges the potential of these processes greatly."

"I am an innovative, team-building, senior manager, privileged to be working in the context of community mediation and victim-offender mediation at local and national levels. My networking has enabled me to make presentations to government ministers, generate the resources to launch successful projects, engage in quality assurance, and publish books which have set new standards and shared practitioner experiences. This work is continuing through Mediation Support Ltd, which has pro-typed a new type of mediation service for the future:
123 Telephone Mediation.

Meanwhile, I am also developing further web-based services for ensuring that you have those important conversations in ways more likely to ensure everyone's needs are heard and addressed. For this I am seeking further funding."

"Paul is a provider of invaluable links" (Alex Turner, Health Service Mediation)

Following work with the Home Office and criminal justice agencies to produce and publish restorative practice training, assessment and Best Practice Guidance materials, Paul was invited by the Prime Minister to be personally thanked for his work on behalf of victims of crime.

Publications include
40 cases: Restorative Justice & Victim-Offender Mediation (Project founder & co-edited with Marian Liebmann), Mediation UK, 2003

Restorative Justice Reader, Professional Certificate in Effective Practice, (2003)Youth Justice (co-editor), YJB, 2003

The Police National Computer and the Offenders Index: can they be combined for research purposes? Home Office, 2002

+ Guardian on Line interview: -Noise, Hedges and other boundary disputes (2007)

Paid employment and voluntary work

Freelending CIC (Company Number 6749438) (Founded November 2008)
Founding Director (alongside Edmund Johnson) & Project Manager working on:
freelender.org - community wealth sharing

Mediation Support Ltd (Company Number 5959249)
Founding director & C.E.O.
Also:
- Trustee of the Restorative Justice Consortium (elected to RJC Board in 2008, and taking a sabbatical from September 2010-2011)
- Co-ordinator of the (prototype) mediation service - 123 Telephone Mediation

Bristol Mediation -New Approaches to Conflict Resolution Ltd (Charity No 1000641)
Restorative Justice (RJ) Co-ordinator, H.M.P. Bristol
September 2007- June 2008 (18hrs/wk)

Mediation UK
Head of Restorative Justice
(formerly Restorative Justice Co-ordinator)
September 2001-June 2006

Ealing Mediation Service
Volunteer Mediator
March 2005- August 2007

University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology
(Faculty of Law)
Research Associate
(formerly Research Assistant)
1997-2001

Cambridge Mediation Service Volunteer Mediator
(& Trustee in 2001)
1997-2001

University of Cambridge Postgraduate Student:
M.Phil, Criminology (Scholarship)
1995-1996

University of Lancaster
Course Organiser & Research Assistant
1995-1996

University of Lancaster
Undergraduate Student: B.A. Social Policy & Administration (First Class Honours)
1991-1995

A selection of the trainings I organised, co-ordinated with trainers & participated in:

Marshall Rosenberg, Getting to the Heart in Resolving Conflict, 21st May 2006
(Marshall Rosenberg 2009 video)

Community Mediation & Anti-Social Behaviour, 2004, Manchester

Victim-centred Restorative Justice, (2 days, Mediation UK, 2005), Birmingham

Victim-Offender Mediation Skills training (each a 3 day course) 2002, 2003 (Southend), 2004 (Aston)

2001 Mediation UK Victim-Offender mediation skills training, Blackpool (5 days)

Training (solely as participant):

Making the Business Case for Mediation, 2006, London

Developing a Fundraising Strategy & Writing Funding Applications, 2005-2006 3 days, Bristol Voluntary Sector support, VOSCUR)

Workplace Mediation (6 days, Conflict Management Plus), 2005-2006, Ealing
(This training was of a particularly high standard, delivered by a trainer and mediator of rare quality, Steve Hindmarsh)

2002-2009 Nonviolent Communication Foundation Course, & subsequent courses (approx 40 days training with NVC-UK Network Trainers / Marshall Rosenberg)

2001 Victim Support volunteer training course, Cambridge (approx. 4 days)

1999 Advanced Mediation training day (SEAMS), Suffolk

1997 Cambridge & District Community Mediation Service training for new mediators (approx. 5 days)

Recommended sites to save in your favourites:
Mediation Support.info
freelender.org

email Paul Crosland
Telephone Paul on Zero-78-Zero 70 66 202

Videos about building-trust in communities through freelending, freecycling, peer-to-peer renting etc: