Who We Are - Restorative Gloucestershire

Hub Team

Lynn Northfield

Restorative Justice Inspector

I joined Gloucestershire Constabulary in my late thirties having worked as dental hygienist for many years. I was motivated to change my career by a feeling of wanting to have a role with more variety that was people centred.

My first posting was to Barton Street where I worked for nearly a decade initially as part of the response team and I then moved on to a variety of roles within Neighbourhood Policing. During this time I was a Community Beat Officer for the Matson area and worked closely with local schools, places of worship, an array of community groups, youth clubs and professional stakeholders. I undertook additional training around Community Policing and restorative practice to assist me in my role and enjoyed working alongside the community and partner agencies to solve local problems by sharing knowledge and resources.

After a short spell working with the Op Solace antisocial behaviour team at Gloucester County Council and the Op Avenger team who focused on young people becoming embroiled in gang culture I was promoted to Sergeant and moved into a role as Custody Sergeant. Being a custody Sergeant allowed me to improve my skills around decision making, safeguarding and detainee welfare issues.

I because a response team Inspector in 2018 and returned to Custody at Inspector rank in 2023 and now work as part of the Criminal Justice Department supporting my colleagues in the custody suite and owning a portfolio recognising the particular needs and vulnerabilities of women and children in custody. I also lead the Children First and DEPEND out of court resolutions team which both focus on dealing with low level offences in a fair and proportionate manner via a range of outcomes away from the criminal justice system.

In April this year I joined the Restorative Gloucestershire team where I continue to learn and develop my skills in this very complex and interesting area. I see restorative justice as a key part of the out of court resolution process and aim to enhance and highlight the exceptional work undertaken by the Restorative Gloucester team and our professional and voluntary sector partners moving forward.

Jude Perez

Volunteer Manager and Practitioner

I joined Restorative Gloucestershire RG as a volunteer Restorative Practitioner in 2016 gaining a paid role as Case coordinator in 2017 and in June 2022 became Volunteer Manager and Practitioner.

I became interested in Restorative Justice RJ and the school to prison pipeline during and after having gone through the lived experience of a family member going through the criminal justice system, as both an offender (harmer) and victim (harmed) of serious crimes and the impact of the ripple effect of what happened I have worked on a broad range of complex and sensitive cases including homicide, harmful sexual behaviour, domestic abuse, serious injury by dangerous driving, arson. I have also dealt with mediating neighbourhood anti-social behaviour, community and family conflict cases.

I have continued my development since my initial training in 2016, completed BTEC level 3 and 4 in restorative justice, attending restorative approaches courses on Domestic Abuse, Sexually Harmful Behaviour, Complex and Sensitive Cases, Community Mediation and Action Learning Facilitation. I am the Restorative Gloucestershire’s Women and Domestic Abuse lead representing RG at multi-agency forums such as ‘Female Offender Deliver Group’ and ‘Youth Out of Court Disposal (OOCD) Scrutiny Panel’.

I bring previous experience and knowledge as an Adult Education Lecturer, within Local Government as an elected Borough and Parish Councillor, the Voluntary and Community Sector, working with the community to take over the running of their local library and Youth Provision along with training in Asset Based Community Development.

I am passionate about everything restorative, enjoys working with other practitioners and the transformative effect the restorative approach has on changing people’s lives.

Julie Ellerslie

Restorative Justice Hub Administrator

Hello! I joined the Restorative Justice team in April 2023, after coming from a local police station as a customer adviser.

My working life has always been customer focused, with a large part working in local government.

I have been a volunteer for Victim Support, where I did additional training in homicide and young children, I loved doing this work for 5 years as a volunteer. Since joining the Restorative Justice team I have now trained as a RJ Practitioner.

I live in the beautiful Forest of Dean with my husband and dog called Bea, I have 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren, so have wide experience of family life good and bad!

Kerry Baker

Restorative Justice Practice Facilitator

I started working with Restorative Gloucestershire as a volunteer in 2019 and gained my paid role as the full time Restorative Facilitator in June 2022. I have also been a Home Start volunteer and understand the importance of supporting families who need a little extra support and how a volunteer can offer this. This has naturally led me to be the Children and Young People Lead for the team of which I am passionate to promote.

My personal experiences in Special Educational Needs inspired me to become interested in Restorative Justice/Practice, which lead to a career change from engineering. I am passionate about the positive impact that Restorative Justice has had on the people that we work with.

I continued my development since my initial training by attending restorative approaches courses on Domestic Abuse, Sexually Harmful Behaviour, Sensitive and Complex Cases and Community Mediation. This continued personal development has supported me in facilitating a wide range of cases, including neighbourhood disputes, harmful sexual behaviour and complex and sensitive.

Anneliese Vickers

Restorative Justice Case Co-ordinator and Practitioner

Anneliese became a volunteer with Restorative Gloucestershire in 2018 and is extremely passionate about restorative practice. She volunteered as a restorative facilitator whilst studying for a BSc in Psychology and Criminology at The University of Gloucestershire. She graduated in 2021 and continued her voluntary role until she undertook her paid role as Restorative Justice Case Co-ordinator in September 2022.

Anneliese has witnessed first-hand the positive impact that can be had on people’s lives and feels honoured to be a part of the service that provides restorative intervention. She has had the privilege of working on a range of different cases, such as neighbourhood mediation, criminal damage and complex and sensitive cases. She enjoys working alongside the wonderful team at Restorative Gloucestershire, who are incredibly helpful, supportive and inspiring.

Images taken by Ruth Davey of Look Again Mindful Photography

Our Volunteers

We have so many wonderful Volunteers here at Restorative Gloucestershire who have received full training in facilitation and mediation techniques to help people through the restorative process