Thursday 25 April 2013

Interns Ahoy!


Friday  26 April 2013

NEW VACANCY: Internships x 2  (London Office and Cardiff office)




 Interns ahoy! We need two interns, one based in Cardiff and one based in London. These positions are to support Kazuri staff and volunteers with the plethora of activities we are engaged in and we have coming up including our women in prison  sustainable housing program

our women's prison councils pilot 

and our event in  Parliament to mark the publication of our report  "Captors or Carers" questioning the role of  private sector security companies delivering housing for vulnerable women seeking asylum in June, hosted by three notable MPs.



Job title: 2 x Interns,  social justice and media  / policy
Location: London and Cardiff
Salary: Voluntary, although reasonable travel expenses are reimbursed
Hours: 4-5 days a week for 8-12 weeks (flexible)

Context

Our Mission: Kazuri is founded on the ethos that sustainable housing is  a basic human right, from which a traumatised woman can rebuild shattered social bonds and start to put some order into a chaotic lifestyle. We deploy the successful model known as Housing First, you house the person safely and sustainably then you build the bespoke  services around her that she needs.

 Kazuri gives a voice to the most marginalized in our society, women who have suffered trauma through domestic violence, incarceration or  as a result of multiple exclusion and by campaigning at the highest levels, we seek to challenge policy where it is unfairly biased against women and ex offenders. Our mission is to mainstream the  offender's resettlement experience, show the larger community that we are all responsible for successful reintegration,  so  she can embark upon her personal journey towards desistance.

 Why we’re effective:  Kazuri is effective because  it is founded on the principles of justice and human rights, fair access to services and sustainability  ours is not a model which engenders dependency but one which empowers  independence. We ask our service users to undertake a minimum of 5 hours of volunteering in the community with a social enterprise or charity to  strengthen their own community bonds.

Kazuri is a social enterprise founded by former offender Farah Damji, whose own experiences of the criminal justice system inform her approach to transforming justice and the experiences of women in prison.  A notable writer and journalist, Farah founded Kazuri to provide housing in the private rented sector for women leaving prison or refuges.  Kazuri  works in successful partnerships with third sector and private enterprise, for   innovative solutions  to entrenched problems: disrupt, challenge, transform. Today, Kazuri is supported by government departments, members of parliament and leading academics and thinkers, a testament to the resilience of the model and our "STICKABILITY" in a commissioning  landscape which has become  a byword for failed policy and dogmatic approaches which do not reduce reoffending rates .


Our impact:  Kazuri offers a model of support through resilience training, volunteering and engaging with the mainstream, our service users and tenants are expected to become stakeholders in society, thereby being part of the solution and no longer seen as the problem. Our report to the Justice Committee, "Sex in the System" was praised by MPs, policy makers and grass roots practitioners who commended the practical policy framework advocated by the leading thinkers such as Flo Krause, Julia Gibby and Imran Khan  who contributed to the  report. These  human rights practitioners  challenge injustice daily and have been instrumental in bringing about changes in prison reform and the police, and  understand first hand how law affects women. The report was also informed by a survey of 25 serving women prisoners who provided a very current snapshot of the state of the estate.


Person Specification 
We require two  female interns, with a passion for policy and change, who can  thinking on her feet and laterally.  You'll need compelling research skills, a flair for writing and the ability to be proactive and work in a brilliant, challenging, changing and inspiring environment.  We are looking for 2 high caliber graduates, ideally in Politics, Social Sciences  or Criminology, with excellent IT skills and a genuine interest in criminal justice and social policy to help with the burgeoning growth of this exciting and innovative organisation.

Key Responsibilities
• Communications, including PR, website maintenance and social media
• Research background material for projects
• Assist with funding applications
• Keep Kazuri  updated on relevant activity in Government, Whitehall, Think Tanks and the Third Sector in the media
• Assist in creating, updating and maintaining office systems
• Administrative duties, including some diary management and travel booking

What this role can offer 
• Invaluable experience working within a   social enterprise at the heart of reform in the criminal justice sector
• A chance to develop existing skills and gain new ones
• Work experience to add to your CV
• Support from a motivated and enthusiastic team

Interview & Start dates

Interviews will be on a rolling basis from 13 May  2013.
Closing date for applications is 30 May 2013, but note that we may appoint before the closing date.

Start date will be mid to late May 2013.To apply
Please send a CV and covering letter to Dianne Ramsay at info@kazuri.org.uk

Because this is a role  working on policy and with vulnerable women, we would ideally like to find two women candidates, as it fits our gendered approach to tackling inequality in the workplace.

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Sorry doesn't have to be so hard...





Would you like the chance to apologise in person for mistakes you’ve made in the past?

Are you longing to say thank you to someone who helped turned your life around?

A new BBC One programme can help.

The Gift’ is an inspiring new programme that will track down the person you want to apologise to or thank, whether it be the victim of a crime you’ve committed, someone affected by behaviour you regret or the person whose kindness changed your life forever.

Our team of restorative justice practitioners, search experts and psychologists will support you as you prepare to meet them face to face and help you find a gift or gesture that encapsulates your feelings.

 If you have a long overdue debt of gratitude, or if you’ve felt burdened by the need to apologise and make amends and feel that saying sorry in person could end years of guilt and help you move on with your life, then we’d love to hear from you.

Please click here for more information, or contact us directly on 020 7424 7703 or thegift@walltowall.co.uk

Thursday 4 April 2013

Mindfulness and creativity

A course for men and women,  led by leading Buddhist mindfulness practitioner,  Vajradaka

This mindfulness based course gives you the space and opportunity to keep the momentum and focus on having a richly-experienced, satisfying and creative life. What is creativity in your own life and do you find creative solutions for daily issues?


Over three clear and practical session, you will learn guidance for being mindful and creative and what that means for you. Learn how to develop the relevant and progressive skills for igniting creativity and a sense of connectedness in all aspects of your life.


April 23 - May  7th

7.15pm-9.30pm

£45



A course for men and women at the Women's Resilience Centre hosted by Kazuri in Whitechapel.
Participants need to commit to all sessions as it is a progressive process.

Some of what we will cover on the course:

Week 1, Tuesday 23 April
Your inner life determines your outer life
Simple and easy to use mindfulness methods for finding what is important for you.
Exploration of what effectively helps you achieve your direction and values.
Coming into a sense of confidence in your strengths and being effective.
Have everything going in the same direction
Dealing with distraction and keeping a sense of direction.
Entering into a sense of wholeheartedness and motivation.
The relationship between discipline and spontaneity.

Week 2, Tuesday 30 April
Being engaged and fully present
Dealing creatively with obstacles to decisiveness.
Keeping a sense of momentum.
Skills for breaking out of habits which disconnect you from what matters to you.
The fun/serious dichotomy
Having a big picture of what is in your best interests.
Working from your strengths.
Enjoying the process of personal development, even when it's hard.

Week 3, Tuesday 7 May
Overcoming expectations and getting real
Understanding what being in a process means
The creative process of being receptive to opportunity and keeping the initiative
Dealing with the double-edged consequences of being successful

This course is open to women and men and it is led by Vajradaka who is an ordained Buddhist and also who is one of the most experienced practitioners and teachers of mindfulness and creativity around. We feel that because of his long experience of leading these courses he is the perfect teacher for participants keen to explore their understanding of the ancient Buddhist practice of mindfulness in a way it can be applied practically into our own lives.

We hope you will join us for 3 very special evenings later this month.
For more information please email us info@kazuri.org.uk.