Second Meeting of the Community Mediation Working Group

  REPORT BY VICTORIA HARRIS

Get ready for updates from the recent Community Mediation Working Group meeting! Dr. Lesley Allport highlighted the importance of inclusive mediation standards, inviting participation in a sub working group on standards. Victoria Harris presented the new ‘Cost of Conflict’ research project, welcoming collaboration. Colin Bourne shared Yorkshire Mediation’s impactful conflict resolution training in prisons. The group will also be contributing ideas to the Community Mediation strand of the upcoming CMC Conference in November.

One and a half hours flew by at an action-packed meeting of the Community Mediation Working Group on 18 May.

Dr Lesley Allport whose PhD thesis was entitled ‘Exploring the Common Ground in Mediation’, gave a presentation to the group on standards in mediation. Lesley who has worked with the College of Mediators and who helped to develop standards for the SEND sector, spoke about her experience of developing standards and invited questions from the group. It was agreed that an inclusive and collaborative approach on the topic of standards was needed to fully identify with the unique history and culture of community mediation, which in many cases is supported by volunteer mediators.  It was also acknowledged that measures to support quality assurance within the community mediation sector are already high with many organisations adding to quality assurance deployed in other sectors due to the additional safeguarding training and the DBS checks that are required for community mediators.  To join the sub working group on standards please send an email.  Our thanks to Dr Lesley Allport for her input.

Victoria Harris presented about a new research project for the community mediation sector ‘The Cost of Conflict’ and welcomed group collaboration and participation in the research. Thank you to all who confirmed that they would be participating and roll on publication of this Report in October! If you would like your community mediation organisation to be involved, please send an email before the end of May so that you can be included in the research.

The group were also given a presentation by Colin Bourne who spoke inspiringly about the conflict resolution training delivered in prisons by Yorkshire Mediation.  This unique project has seen Yorkshire Mediation deliver training to four prisons to date both online and in person.  Colin described the work as ‘hugely rewarding’ and is hopeful that new projects will soon be lined up so that this work can continue. Our thanks to Colin Bourne for sharing this inspirational project.

With the Civil Mediation Council Annual Conference scheduled for the afternoons of 15 and 16 November (online) the group were asked to contribute ideas for the community mediation strand of the conference.

The next meeting for the Community Mediation Working Group is the 26 September 12.30-2pm.  If you would like to take part please email CMC Programme Manager Victoria Harris.