Stop, Look, Listen!

It's interesting to see that the Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) charity has chosen today April 1st to rebrand itself as 'change, grow, live' (CGL) in order "to better reflect the work that we do to support people to move forward and change, grow and live". 

From the CGL website:-

Our vision and values
Our vision is to enable people to make the positive changes necessary to lead independent and purposeful lives and create safer, healthier communities. The values of our organisation are focused on achieving this vision. They encompass our belief that the individual is the source of their own motivation and ability to change and we therefore aim to treat all service users with respect, based on a passion and commitment to social justice that will empower them to achieve their goals. Our work is not just a job: it is a vocation. 

A learning organisation
Change, grow, live is a learning organisation. We respond to new information and evidence about what works and are willing to change and adapt our service delivery to achieve the best outcomes for our clients. We are also committed to supporting the continued learning and professional development of our staff to ensure that we are at the forefront of developments in our field.

Of course CGL is not a 'proper' charity because it's a defacto business that derives its total income from public sector contracts and like most 'third sector' players so loved by the Tory government, it's keen to take over more work from public servants and cut costs. Despite undertaking more work for the State, there's no public accountability and of course it's immune to those irritating Freedom of Information requests.     

I well recall attending a NOMS consultation event in Wales during the lead-up to TR and listening to a representative from CRI on my table confidently predicting that should they be successful bidders for a CRC 'probation officers would be the first to get the chop as being far too expensive'. The person concerned seemingly used to be a PO, and although CRI was not successful as a prime contractor, the words of their eager doom-monger have proved to be rather prescient.