Remedi (Restorative Justice & Mediation Initiatives) is an independent voluntary sector organisation that provides a range of restorative justice initiatives to victims and offenders in South Yorkshire. It began in Sheffield in 1996 through the work of Rob Unwin and Carol Fordham.

Doncaster Remedi came on line in October 1998 and we became ‘South Yorkshire Victim Offender Mediation Service’ in 1999. Home Office research funding secured in spring 2001 meant that Remedi could expand across South Yorkshire and Remedi is now a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.

Remedi aims to promote the use of restorative justice within the criminal justice system and as a means of confronting and challenging offending behaviour. We believe that victims have a right to be able to convey the effects of the crime to their offender and to seek redress and answers to any questions they may have. We also believe in providing the offender with the opportunity to apologise for their crime and to offer reparation. The traditional criminal justice model does not provide this opportunity although recent legislation in Youth Justice has sought to include victims in the process and provide a restorative framework in which to work.

In 2000 a bid was submitted to the Home Office for research funding on the effectiveness of mediation in reducing re-offending and addressing the needs of victims. As a result of this successful bid, Remedi has been able to develop a range of restorative justice initiatives in both youth and adult work. We have contracts to provide services in three of the four youth offending teams and a referral procedure is in place to refer mediation cases from the fourth. The National Probation Service (South Yorkshire) provides funding towards the costs of providing victim awareness sessions with offenders to their national standard requirements.

We take referrals directly from individuals or agencies and offer mediation services to victims and offenders. Many of our referrals are from prisoners, particularly as there are four prisons in the area that we cover. People referred to Remedi are visited individually to assess their suitability and the other party is then contacted. The process is entirely voluntary on both sides and it is not time-limited, taking as many meetings as necessary before proceeding to mediation or closing the case. In addition to this, Remedi is working with schools in South Yorkshire to promote citizenship and we hope to expand significantly on our current programme.

We now have offices in Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield and have contracts with the national probation service and youth offending teams to provide a range of restorative services.

Remedi's 2006 Annual Report