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NIACRO brings ‘Wipe The Slate Clean’ campaign to Fermanagh

Bob Ashford speaking at NIACRO’s AGM on 8 November 2013

NIACRO will bring the ‘Wipe The Slate Clean’ campaign to Fermanagh this month, when campaigner Bob Ashford and Falklands war veteran Simon Weston join the organisation for a fringe event at a summer school for social change.

The Xchange Summer School, taking place Enniskillen’s Ardhowen Theatre from 26 - 28 June, is bringing together innovative thinkers to explore how to bring about social change in Northern Ireland. As part of the programme of discussions, NIACRO is hosting a fringe event on Friday 27 June with Bob and Simon about their campaign to wipe old and minor offences from criminal records. The campaign was born when both men were denied the opportunity to stand for election for Police and Crime Commissioner due to convictions received decades earlier as teenagers, and it continues to promote the need for fairer filtering of criminal records and opportunities for people to move on from mistakes.

Olwen Lyner, Chief Executive of NIACRO and  one of the organisers of the Xchange Summer School, said: “I’m delighted Bob and Simon are able to join us for this conversation. The ‘Wipe The Slate Clean’ campaign has a very important message: criminal records should not be a life sentence. Both Bob and Simon’s stories show how old and minor offences can have a lasting impact and be used to unfairly discriminate against people years later. NIACRO has always supported this campaign and it is something we advocate for in Northern Ireland, in line with Recommendation 21 of the Youth Justice Review.

“It’s perfect that this will be a topic of discussion at the Xchange Summer School. The three-day event is an opportunity to bring together great and curious minds, inviting each other to think outside the box and explore how we can implement social change locally, swapping old and tried ideas for new and innovative ones. I’m personally really looking forward to the programme, and would encourage people to come along to this one-of-a-kind event to share their ideas.”

A wide range of speakers will contribute to informal discussions on changing the conversation in history, the media, arts and liberties during the three day event. To find out more about the Xchange programme, including the full line up, and to book your place at the summer scheme, click here.

For more information, please contact:
Julia Kenny, Policy and Research Co-ordinator: 028 9032 0157 ext. 3250 / julia@niacro.co.uk