Out of Trouble campaign to reduce the number of children and young people imprisoned in the UK launches new website
This week the Fund's partner, the Prison Reform Trust, launched the website for its Out of Trouble campaign, which aims to reduce the number of children and young people in prison. The website is designed to be the first port of call for up-to-date information about the campaign and the issues surrounding children and young people in the criminal justice system.
The Prison Reform Trust has campaigned for a number of years to reduce child imprisonment on the grounds that imprisoning children and young people damages both them and society. Its comprehensive research has shown prison to be an expensive and ineffective solution to youth crime - with reoffending rates for young people at more than 75%.
Out of Trouble is funded by The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The Fund has supported work with young people and the criminal justice system since 1997, and is committed to ensuring the fair and humane treatment of the most vulnerable groups in the system, supporting the development of alternatives to custody, and advocating government policies that strike a better balance between society's need for recompense and the wellbeing of the children and young people involved.
Both the Prison Reform Trust and the Fund recognise the extent of the work still to be done to reduce child and youth imprisonment. Penelope Gibbs, Director of Out of Trouble, says that ‘Britain still locks up too many of its young and vulnerable children... Through our new website, we aim to help our supporters keep up the pressure for reform.'
To visit the Out of Trouble website and find out more about the campaign and its progress, please visit www.outoftrouble.org.uk.
The launch of the Out of Trouble website was reported prominently in a feature article in The Times on the day of the launch. Click here to read the article.
To find out more about the work of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund in the area of penal reform, click here.
11/02/2010
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