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Discussing the Future of Community Mediation with Duncan Jarrett OBE

Discussing the Future of Community Mediation with Duncan Jarrett OBE

Is community mediation the key to mitigate tensions in society and even prevent threats like terrorism? CMC Programme Manager Victoria Harris interviews Duncan Jarrett OBE, former Chair and current Trustee of Mediation Hertfordshire, on the organisation’s approach to conflict prevention. Recognising the profound impact of conflict on individual well-being, particularly amid shifting demographics and familial dynamics, underscores the necessity for proactive intervention.
INTERVIEW BY VICTORIA HARRIS

Mediation Herts trustees and volunteers met last week to look at building upon their work to support the growth of community mediation. Led by Trustee Duncan Jarrett the session also explored the importance of the sector responding to changing need.

As Duncan explains in the following paragraphs,“For a long time our work has involved more than simply mediation. Early intervention programmes are key to conflict prevention.  The conflict management training and mediation awareness projects that we at Mediation Hertfordshire have been delivering since the early 2010s, are testament to a wider approach towards conflict prevention, deployed increasingly by the community sector, which benefits both individuals and the public services that we all rely upon.

The causes of conflict change and it’s important that we are alert and responsive to meet those changing needs.

Recognising the impact of conflict upon individual health remains a key driver for all we do.  But the causes of conflict change and it is important that we are alert and responsive to meet those changing needs. A good example is the combined fact of our aging population, more blended families, and greater property ownership to pass on, which has led to increasing intergenerational conflict around inheritance issues.  Helping people to have difficult conversations can ward off fierce court battles and family estrangement, supporting both the emotional health of the parties as well as a burdened court service.

There is perhaps no greater legacy for the community mediation sector than to support peer mediation training in schools.

We value the opportunity to provide the next generation with life-long conflict management skills. There is perhaps no greater legacy for the community mediation sector than to support peer mediation training in schools.  We are always improving our programme, from providing virtual training during the Pandemic to now using AI to develop age-appropriate conflict scenarios to bring to school pupils.

The fact that, community tensions were a focus of the Prime Minister’s statement in Downing Street on the evening of 1st March, elevates the importance of dispute prevention and in my view the role that community mediation can play to reduce threats as serious as terrorism.

We are continually inspired by the work of colleagues in our sector who like us, work to support community cohesion.  The fact that, community tensions were a focus of the Prime Minister’s statement in Downing Street on the evening of 1st March, elevates the importance of dispute prevention and in my view the role that community mediation can play to reduce threats as serious as terrorism.  For a host of reasons, the need for a robust community mediation sector is greater than ever and yet we know that the sector is diminished from a high point charted almost 20 years ago.

The community mediation sector is ready to rise to the challenges ahead and be a bedrock for dispute resolution.

Access to a nationally funded community mediation service, delivered locally would help address many of the challenges we now face. My sense is that the community mediation sector is ready to rise to the challenges ahead and be a bedrock for dispute resolution and dispute prevention.  Now is the time for a reprioritisation of community mediation services throughout the country.

Duncan Jarrett is a volunteer mediator and Trustee for Mediation Hertfordshire. During his tenure as Chair of Mediation Hertfordshire the organisation was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. Duncan is a former senior police officer with a background in hostage negotiation. In January 2003 he was awarded the OBE for his work.

Victoria Harris

Victoria Harris is the CMC Programme Manager and runs the Academic Forum as well as two Working Groups for Peer and Community Mediation. A solicitor for 15 years, Victoria moved to the voluntary sector to support mediation in the community and became CEO for Mediation Hertfordshire, during which time she innovated a contract for mediation to be socially prescribed from NHS primary care. She is the author of Transforming Community Conflict and The Cost of Community Conflict.  She is now a Trustee for Mediation Herts and was a member of the 2022 judging panel for the National Mediation Awards.

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