Restorative Justice project gets Royal seal of approval

Salix Homes has been rubbing shoulders with royalty.

We are working with the Redeeming Our Communities (ROC) charity which recently hosted a royal visit from Princess Anne to celebrate their five year anniversary.

Our neighbourhood manager Mick Walsh was honoured to be invited along to the event to meet Princess Anne.

He said: “Princess Anne is the Head of Restorative Justice in the UK so she was at ROC to help mark their five year anniversary and speak to some of the partners involved with their restorative justice projects.

“We were each supposed to have just one minute to talk to her, but she spoke to me for a good seven or eight minutes and was asking about the partnership work we are doing. She was very well informed and knew a lot about restorative justice.

“It was a really honour to attend the Royal visit on behalf of Salix Homes. Princess Anne came across very well and seemed genuinely interested in the work we are doing.”

Salix Homes has teamed up with ROC to deliver training to up to 24 of our residents and employees to become restorative justice facilitators.

Restorative justice brings victims and perpetrators of low-level crimes together in a bid to show the offender the real impact of their crime and make them accountable for their actions while giving a voice to the victims.

The aim is to reduce conflict and re-offending and make communities safer places to live and work.

The project is being funded through our Springboard programme, which provides grants to local projects and initiatives that improve the environment, boost community spirit, promote health and wellbeing or reduce isolation.

If you’re interested in becoming a restorative justice facilitator, contact your neighbourhood team on 0800 218 3000 or email enquiries@salixhomes.org

To find out more about Springboard go to www.salixhomes.org/springboard