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My lengthy career in the Probation Service has encompassed work, both as a practitioner and as a manager in the community, as part of multi-disciplinary projects and in custodial settings. That experience and knowledge of the criminal justice system provided me with the skills set and credibility to design and establish a Restorative Justice and Victim Services Unit (RJVSU) that is continuing to embed restorative justice interventions within probation practice. Influencing and negotiating with the judiciary, criminal justice partners, community based organisations and victim advocacy groups are critical to the work of the team. I had a key advocacy and drafting role in inserting the restorative justice provisions in the 2017 Victims of Crime Act. My involvement with the European Restorative Justice Policy Network over the last 4 years combined with my activities as a core member of RJS4C have enabled me to play a key role in guiding and informing a governmental decision to publish a restorative justice policy that includes a commitment to a national restorative justice delivery service.