Case Study: Clinks

museum of garden history

Project: 'Unlocking Potential' - writing, research & PR.

Date: 2008

Clinks supports voluntary sector organisations that work with offenders, ex-offenders and their families. It has more than 250 member organisations, providing information, advice and materials to enable the voluntary sector to make a difference.

Clinks works to influence government policy on crime and justice issues by producing reports, conducting research and staging events. One issue it campaigns on is the need to involve offenders and ex-offenders more systematically in the development and delivery of criminal justice policy. It believes that by taking this ‘user’ perspective into account, subsequent policies and practices will support more effective rehabilitation and resettlement.

The need

Clinks established a ‘Taskforce on User Involvement in the Criminal Justice System’, which met several times over the course of a year. It also carried out a widespread consultation with relevant organisations in the public and voluntary sectors.

With such a mass of material, Clinks needed the feedback from the consultation to be pulled together and incorporated into the views of the Taskforce. Case studies also needed to be identified and the whole report written and edited, with the support of Taskforce members. Gary Ward Communications was taken on to do this work and to launch the report.

The approach

Gary Ward Communications attended a Taskforce meeting to gain a better insight into its work. Meetings with the Taskforce chairman and secretary were also arranged and the scope of the project was pinned down, ensuring clarity on all sides. Work to complete and launch the report then began in earnest; this included:

Researching and interviewing case studies, illustrating examples of good practice
Developing a report structure that was agreed upon by Taskforce members
Conducting additional desk research to ensure recent policy developments were taken into account
Drafting and redrafting the report, called Unlocking Potential, in consultation with Taskforce members
Liaising with designers over the presentation of the final product
Developing a PR plan and contacting the specialist media, supported by comprehensive Q&As, a press release, position statements and briefing for spokespeople
Liaising with key third party supporters to ensure supportive statements were released to coincide with the launch, which was held with more than 100 people in attendance

The result

The report was printed and launched on time and to budget, gaining specialist media coverage and a number of radio interviews. It was distributed to around 2,000 contacts in the criminal justice field and helped lead to a number of high level meetings with ministers and senior civil servants. It is a key feature around the ongoing debate of user involvement in the criminal justice system.

You can read the report here: Unlocking Potential

The verdict

“Gary Ward Communications delivered an excellent report that is proving to be very influential in government circles. They were very professional and good to work with and we’re delighted to continue working with them on other projects.”
Clive Martin
Director, Clinks

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