Nacro

Nacro is a registered charity operating in England and Wales. It is not formally linked with Sacro in Scotland or NIACRO in Northern Ireland.

History

The Central Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society (Incorporated) was formed in December 1924. It was renamed the National Association of Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies (Incorporated) in October 1960, and the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) in March 1966. It rapidly developed into the biggest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales and in the 1970s and 1980s was frequently involved in high-level policy discussions with the British Government, particularly with the Home Office, which has responsibility for prisons and probation services.

The organisation officially dropped its full name in 1999 to become Nacro, although the media frequently continue to erroneously refer to it as the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders.

Vision

"Nacro's vision is a safer society where everyone belongs, human rights are respected and preventing crime means tackling social exclusion and re-integrating those who offend."

Current activities

Today, Nacro is one of the largest charities and Work-related Learning Providers in the United Kingdom. Turnover in 2004/5 was £59 million, and the annual report claims that: "In the last year, we trained 10,000 learners, housed 3,000 tenants, advised 20,000 helpline enquirers, helped 10,000 prisoners, and worked with 11,000 young people."

The organisation currently runs in excess of one thousand programmes across England and Wales, working with young offenders, prisoners, ex-offenders, homeless people and other 'disadvantaged' groups. It has a sizeable policy team at its headquarters and is often to be found in the media commenting on recent criminal justice news stories. It also delivers pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training to all through its network of modern training centres across the country.

Nacro's headquarters are in Vauxhall, south London (chief executive, directors, and policy, fundraising and communications departments) and Birmingham (administrative departments including IT, finance and human resources).

Officials

Queen Elizabeth II is the Patron of Nacro. The current President is Lord Dholakia, and the Chair is Matthew Litobarski, former President, Global Supply Chain, Cadbury Schweppes plc and volunteer mentor for Trail-Blazers.

The current Chief Executive is Paul McDowell who succeeded Paul Cavadino, who succeeded Helen Edwards. Vivien Stern held the post prior to Helen Edwards. Bold text

External links

• Nacro website
• Sacro website