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153 The small but important charity grows!
Grantown Remakery is a charity based in the Scottish Highlands, in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park near Aviemore. I talked about this, a year or so ago, with George Livingstone as the guest. It seemed a good idea to see how they weathered the pandemic and did George have views on how the wider community could support the causes and challenges they saw. We will hear that the project has changed since we last spoke in a number of ways.
We talk of the wider social trends and challenges faced by those they help. 3 strands of work for the 3 days they can afford to open.
1) Working with young learning disabled adults often isolated and lonely
2) Existing work with children helping to transition from school to further education.
3) developing a partnership with Job Centre Plus and 16 to 25 year olds who were deemed ‘not work ready’
It is a community social work scheme whose value to the area is significant, especially when the fall out from the pandemic adds to the existing challenges from rural poverty.
In addition they are also working on two new developments; 1) meeting shortly with the local Medical Practice with the view to becoming and organisation that GP’s can use on a social prescribing basis, and 2) are about to meet with ex forces representatives to consider what support we might provide to veterans who are having difficulty accessing work. This would involve opening for a further day.
All of this assists with fundraising as they can apply for funds for each discrete part of the project rather than on a blanket basis.
Also acknowledge that they are a member of Circular Communities Scotland, a national organisation which is about encouraging reuse of items rather than replacement which opens up further funding opportunities to them and enables the support of core work.
Also George is thinking of stepping down over the next year or two so any interested parties in the NE of Scotland can contact and have a conversation.
Grantown Remakeryhttps://www.grantownremakery.org.uk provides Employment Skills Development, volunteering opportunities and support for Young People who may be having difficulty in Transition from School to Further Education and Employment, Adults with a Disability or with Mental Ill-Health, supporting all in their journey to recovery and towards fulfilment of their personal goals.
It aims to provide an alternative to landfill disposal by repairing, upgrading, recycling and reselling of goods through a Community based system. This helps pay for coaching and supervision. They have developed strong business relationships with both Partners and the Local Community to identify the best service for individuals in need of support and skills development within strong environmental awareness and action
Email info@grantownremakery.org.uk Tel 01479 873612
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152 Peter Garsden President of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
In this episode I interview Peter Garsden, the President of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers. I first interviewed Peter on this podcast 10 years ago. You can listen to that original episode here. In our updated conversation we talk about the changes that have happened over the last 10 years and the work that Peter does with the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers.
Peter has been a solicitor for over 40 years, and is the current President of A.C.A.L (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, an organisation he helped found in 1981.
He is a Solicitor Consultant at Scott-Moncrieff & Associates . He also designed and maintains his own website Abuse Advice 4 Survivors. For nearly 30 years he ran his own firm Abney Garsden, Solicitors of Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire. He is a member of the Law Society Multi Party Action Group.
For several years he headed a specialist department of Child Abuse Personal Injury Lawyers and was the co-ordinating solicitor for most Child Abuse compensation claims and group actions in the North of England, including a 5 home 900 Claimant action based in Manchester. He is a former Secretary and founder member of a charity called Abuse Watch. He has also assisted an international charity called Innocence in Danger.
He has written and lectured on the subject of child abuse litigation and has extensive media experience on radio, television, and in the National newspapers.
Peter and his firm have won several local and national awards such as Personal Injury Team of the Year (Eclipse Personal Injury Awards 2011), Small Firm of the Year (Manchester Legal Awards, 2011 and 2013, Most Innovative Use of Legal Software (2010). Peter was made Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year in the Manchester Legal Awards of 2013, Solicitor of the Year at the QualitySolicitors Annual Awards in 2014, Law Society Solicitor of the Year (Private Practise) in 2016, Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year at the Eclipse Personal Injury Awards in 2018, and given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Claims Management Awards in 2017. In 2023, he was awarded a Pride of Britain Award for his dedication to child abuse, and fostering children.
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151 John Pizzuro CEO Raven anti child exploitation part 2
Join me for part 2 of my conversation with John Pizzuro, the CEO of Raven about anti child exploitation.
John is the CEO of Raven, the first and only 501(c)4 group ( social welfare, not for profit ) focused on child exploitation in the United States, John works with lawmakers, advocates, agencies, and organizations who are willing to challenge the status quo and fight to protect our most vulnerable citizens. Prior to that John spent 25 years in the New Jersey State police where John had spent his last six years as The Internet Crimes Against Children Commander where he led a team of 200 investigators. In that capacity John served as Chair of the Outreach Committee, and US representative to INTERPOL. John developed a penchant for neuroscience, understanding social engineering and how criminals lured their victims and in return used those same techniques to lure criminals out of the shadows. John made it is mission to protect the innocent and leveraging partners skillsets in order to accomplish that. John’s Task force arrested over 1500 individuals that preyed on the innocent. John has developed and teaches classes on Cognitive Interviewing. John speaks frequently regarding leading and managing large scale investigations, leadership, online grooming, child exploitation, Human trafficking, social engineering, and how technology has impacted society and their behavior. He has written framework for other countries to develop their own investigative units with best practices. John is certified as a Master Neuro Linguistic Practitioner and has an M.A. in Human Resource Development and Training
John and colleagues from Raven addressed Congress this week and talked of how complex and challenging the threats to children are in our communities. check out the link. https://www.linkedin.com/company/ravenassociation/
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