PCC funding boost for Mediation Plus

Mediation Plus was one of over 60 local organisations awarded grants totaling almost £300,000 from the Safer in Sussex Community Fund by Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne in Lewes last week from more than 90 applications made to the fund.

Working together with colleagues from community mediation services in Brighton, Hastings and West Sussex to make a joint bid as the Sussex Mediation Alliance, the application had to demonstrate support for the priorities set out in the PCC's Police and Crime Plan, including tackling antisocial behavior and addressing community priorities such as drug and alcohol harm, as well as reducing reoffending and the impact of domestic abuse and hate crime.

The Sussex Mediation Alliance was awarded funding of £30,000 to support the four services, who together provide domestic, intergenerational and family mediation services across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. The will help to ensure the continued provision of voluntary dispute resolution to residents and communities across the county.

Clive Gross, Mediation Plus Service Manager said: "This funding is vital to help preserve our work with our local Neighbourhood Policing Teams in Eastbourne and Wealden, providing them with a valuable early-intervention service that can prevent disputes escalating and ending in serious incidents. Over 600 community mediation referrals are serviced every year across Sussex. Mediation can help to assist in the prevention of crime and reduce the levels of crime and antisocial behavior as well as addressing the fear of crime. Police officers are also offered suitable training on how to make appropriate referrals to mediation and how to encourage parties to take part, prior to any intervention."

"By working together as the Sussex Mediation Alliance, we can offer community based mediation and conflict resolution services to individuals, organisations and agencies across both counties to a high and consistent standard of services in terms of quality and working practices.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne added: "I am delighted with the initial response to the Fund. The sheer number of applications received reflects the huge number of local organisations and community groups who are committed to keeping Sussex safe.

“I will be closely following the progress of these projects over the coming months to monitor the real impact they are delivering for residents in Sussex.”

AGM marks successful year for Mediation Plus

Members of MediationPlus gathered last week at their Annual General Meeting in Hailsham to celebrate seven successful years as the community mediation service for Eastbourne and Wealden. After having come close to closure in early 2011 due to funding cuts, Chair of Trustees Barbara Molog presented the charity’s latest Annual Report which showed a year of continued progress in delivering mediation services across the area – including the Time 2 Talk service for young people and their families – and developing community based mediation training projects to spread mediation skills into new areas.

Presenting her report to the meeting, Barbara said “The past year has seen steadily growth in our activities while keeping a very tight reign on expenditure. Our success in renewing the funding of our Time2Talk service with BBC Children in Need has provided a key platform on which to develop that service over the next three years, while support from Wealden District Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Wealden and Eastbourne Community Safety Partnerships, and other Parish and Town Councils has ensured we have been able to support the costs of an increased number of neighbour dispute referrals during the year.”

Barbara thanked retiring Trustees Pam Hart and David Hines for their work over the past 12 months and welcomes new Trustees Caroline Adcock and Wendy Shuttleworth who were elected at the meeting. The meeting also welcomed Sussex Police new Wealden District Commander Gary Pike to the new Mediation Plus Board as the service continues to develop close working relationships with their local Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Delivering his report, Service and Development Manager Clive Gross highlighted the success of the two pilot community mediation training projects that have been delivered in 2013 and the recruitment of two cohorts of new accredited volunteer mediators to the service.

Special Guest Speaker Miriam Wilkinson from 3VA’s Speak-Up Forum then told the meeting about a new project looking to develop the use of Restorative Justice in Sussex and how mediators and mediation skills could be used to help deliver it. Clive Gross added “We are very excited to be part of this project as Restorative Justice is very close to our work in resolving disputes without the need for legal action. We hope it will become part of what we can offer the local community over the coming years in conjunction with our local partners.”

New Hailsham community mediators complete their training

A new group of community based mediators successfully completed their outreach mediation skills training course run by Mediation Plus at the Hailsham East Community Centre last week.

Supported by funding from the European Social Fund, Mediation Plus adapted their accreditedmediation course to meet the needs of learners from a wide range of backgrounds who would benefit from having these skills in their professional and working lives.

The group included a manager of a sheltered housing scheme, a under-graduate psychology student, a former residential social worker, a local family services worker, a local town counsellor and business advisor, and lone parents with young families all looking to use their new skills in both their personal and professional lives.

Joan Eades, Training Manager at Mediation Plus said “We have been developing how we offer mediation training in the wider community to people who would not be able to attend our regular volunteer training courses and have been delighted that we have been able to work with people from such diverse backgrounds on this course. Everyone supported and encouraged each other and brought their own unique perspectives to our training.”

The new mediators all completed the twelve week training and will now have the opportunity to work with members of our experienced mediation team taking on new cases across Wealden and Eastbourne to practice their skills and work to complete their full accreditation from the Open College Network.

Mediation Plus Service Manager Clive Gross commented “This is the second community based course we have run this year and there is clearly both the need and interest from many different areas to deliver more courses in the future. However, without the funding support from the European Social Fund, we would not have been able to create this opportunity, and we will need the continuing support of funders like these if we are to expand our programme.”

Mediation Plus would like to hear from other community and voluntary groups, front-line support organisations or individuals who think they could benefit from gaining mediation skills so they can look to develop further courses. Anyone interested should contact Joan Eades on 01323 442781 or contact us for an initial discussion.

New Mediators needed to support increased referrals

Mediation Plus – the community mediation service for Eastbourne and Wealden – is looking to recruit a group of new community mediators to help cover the increased number of referrals the service has been receiving this year.

With local public sector and statutory services such as the Police, Courts, Youth Support and schools all continuing to face a financial squeeze, mediation is being increasingly used as an alternative way to resolve disputes and help improve communication between neighbours and young people and their families.

Service and Development Manager Clive Gross said “We have been experiencing an increase in the number and complexity of the cases referred to our service over the last year, especially to our Time2Talk service that helps young people experiencing problems within their family or at school. We are also seeing a wider variety of issues between neighbours coming to us, including some resulting from the increased pressure on local authorities and social housing providers to accommodate people needing extra support to live independently in the community”

The service is looking to put up to 14 new mediators through their accredited mediation skills training course which starts next month, who will then help to diffuse local conflicts, neighbour disputes and anti-social behaviour across the area, helping to prevent minor issues becoming major problems and improving the quality of life of residents. The training will take place across five Saturdays in their Hailsham offices, starting on October 12^th.

Clive Gross continued “We are looking for new mediators from a wide variety of backgrounds and from across the area, but we are particularly keen to hear from people interested in working in the Uckfield, Crowborough and north Wealden area, where we have seen the largest rise in new referrals in recent months.”

The practical and interactive course offers participants the opportunity to develop mediation skills through exercises, group work and role play. Mediation skills are also applicable to many professional sectors, including housing, young people’s services, family support, education and is suitable for those working in other frontline support services dealing with the public.

For more details about the training and an application form, please call Clive Gross or Joan Eades at Mediation Plus 01323 442781 or email training@mediation-plus.org.uk

Mediation skills training aims to support local community

A group of nine participants have successfully completed the first pilot community outreach mediationskills training course run by Mediation Plus at the Willingdon Trees Community Centre last week.

Supported by funding from the Sussex Community Foundation, Mediation Plus adapted their accredited mediation course to meet the needs of learners from a wide range of backgrounds who would benefit from having these skills in their professional and working lives.

The group included a Community Officer and Neighbourhood Advisor from Eastbourne Borough Council, a PCSO who helps co-ordinate the Police to response to neighbour disputes, two volunteers from a local community drop-in centre, an agency nurse, and local a provider of accommodation to ex-offenders.

Mediation Plus Service Manager Clive Gross commented “This successful pilot course demonstrates just how much value mediation skills can have in so many different areas, and we are really pleased that we have been able to deliver them to people who are supporting so many different groups in the local community.”

The new mediators all completed the twelve week training and will now have the opportunity to work with members of Mediation Plus’s experienced mediation team taking on new cases across Eastbourne to practice their skills and work to complete their full accreditation from the Open College Network.

Joan Eades, Training Manager at Mediation Plus said “We have been looking at how we can offer mediation training in the wider community to people who would not be able to attend our regular volunteer training courses and have been delighted that we have been able to work with people from such diverse backgrounds in our first course. We are very keen to build on this in the future.”

Mediation Plus would like to hear from other community and voluntary groups, front-line support organisations or individuals who think they could benefit from gaining mediation skills so they can look to develop further courses. Anyone interested should contact Joan Eades at Mediation Plus on 01323 442781 or email training@mediation-plus.org.uk for an initial discussion.

Drop in to find out more about free mediation skills training

If you are unemployed or not working and living in the Wealden or Eastbourne area, local community mediation charity Mediation Plus are offering free mediation skills training for up to 20 people to become Neighbourhood Mediators in their communities.

Supported by funding from the European Social Fund through the Skills Funding Agency, the course offers participants the opportunity to develop mediation skills through exercises, group work and role play. Mediation skills are applicable to many professional sectors, including housing, young people’s services, family support, education and many more.

The course is aimed at those looking to return to education and training, get into community volunteering, or learn new skills that may help them back into employment. Completing the course and accreditation process will give participants a recognised qualification at Level 2 or 3 that they will be able to build on with further training in the future.

Mediation Plus are holding a drop in session to find out more about the course at their offices in Western Road, Hailsham on Thursday 16th May between 10 and 11am. If you would like to attend, or get more details and an application form, please call Joan Eades on 01323 442781 or email training@mediation-plus.org.uk

Mediation service sees increase in referrals after legal aid cuts

Mediation Plus - the community mediation service covering Eastbourne and Wealden - has seen an increase in referrals to their family mediation service following cuts to legal aid funding to a wide variety of civil legal actions that came into effect in April.

Although pleased that mediation is becoming more widely recognised as an effective way to resolve conflict, the Hailsham based service - which offers mediation for neighbour, family, intergenerational and workplace disputes - is concerned that government agencies are seeing mediation as a cheap alternative to legal action and have not informed the public how the process really works.

Mediation Plus Service Manager Clive Gross commented "Mediation is about helping people to find their own solutions and is a voluntary process, while going to court is adversarial with an imposed solution at the end. Our service is not about taking sides or deciding who may be right or wrong. From the enquiries we are receiving, many people clearly do not understand this. They are looking for something to be enforced and are often not in the right state of mind to enter into mediation."

To help people better understand how family mediation works, the service has recently trained a group of its existing volunteer mediators to be able to talk people through the process and allow them to assess whether mediation is right for them. Supported with funding from the Affinity Sutton Community Fund, eight volunteers have just completed an OCN accredited family mediation course and are available to have an initial informal and confidential discussion with anyone wanting to explore the idea.

Clive Gross added "Helping people to really understand the power of mediation in different circumstances is a very important part of what we do, so we hope that giving our volunteers this extra knowledge will help more local people understand and access our service. While family mediation is not free, as a charitable organisation we are able to keep costs much lower that for-profit mediation organisations, and helps to support our community mediation work across Eastbourne and Wealden."

To find out more, visit the Mediation Plus website or call us on 01323 442781.