Nik Marsdin

May seem of very little importance to many but such a gesture can be life changing. Genuinely choked me up watching Street Gangs, not ashamed to say it was a bit dusty in my eyes. God bless all the Mr Rawlinsons

@louisemfolkes I always write in pencil, makes doodling and scribbling in the margins easier too.

I've become accustomed to writing in pencil, is this an age thing? Or am I regressing back to when teachers wouldn't trust you with a pen? The sound of a pencil is just so satisfying and sounds like things are being accomplished ✏️🫡

@fmspear I’d scrap the categorising of prisoners in majoritycases and mixing of remand inmates. The categorising of prisoners leads to situations where you have prisons that are essentially packed with ‘peers’ where gang violence l, exploitation of vulnerable and drug use is exacerbated.

Q: If you were given the prisons and probation ministers role, what changes would you make? A: I would scrap the titan prison building programme and instead invest in smaller local units, making families more accessible and start to break down the barriers between those in prison and those on the outside. I would encourage industry to step out of their comfort zone and give more people with convictions a second chance. To remove the stigma of a criminal record so that it is not forever hanging around people’s necks. We are a deeply divided and hurt society that is full of prejudices. I would ban all industries within prisons that do not provide purposeful activities and a decent wage. People need to be work ready on release with housing and job options already in place. Families should be able to stay together and be supported, children should be prioritised. I would make sure everyone working within the CJS were trained sufficiently for their roles and supported in their jobs. As a prisons minister you can only change what is in your field of influence to change. In other words, you need to be precise, you need be pragmatic and you need to learn whose advice you can trust. Then act on it. One of my priorities as Prisons Minister would be to take advice to demonstrate better things to invest in. Diversion, or Restorative Justice or Community. Put money into early years, into youth etc. We have to stop this madness of believing that we can change people and their behaviour by banging them up in warehouse conditions with little to do and not enough to eat and sanitation from a previous century. As Prisons Minister I would initiate change that would lead to every prison Governor carrying personal accountability for the way they run the prisons they are responsible for. It’s not their prison, its ours and they must run it properly, giving people in their care decent conditions and personal dignity regardless of what crime the courts have sent them to prison for. The moment Governors carry that personal accountability is the moment you will see astonishing changes in HMPPS. I will ensure under performing Governors leave the service and are not continually rotated around the prison estate or promoted to more senior positions. They have to know the weight of the accountability they carry. faithspear.wordpress.com/2019/10/25/an-…

@BBainbridge2021 While since I’ve been in the third sector but we always looked to JNC and local authority as a bench mark, never hit LA rates but sold the flexibility (easy sell to social workers coming out of CP teams ha ha)

*Youth Charity Leaders* What scales/benchmarks do you use for Senior Leadership roles that go beyond the JNC scales?

@hanniemona I don’t like to give credit to the dirty side of the Lune

@MarsdinNik A very Lancaster thing, too 🤫

The most morecambe thing ever is the heavyweight champion of the world waiting for the train (standard class) with his pals looking like they’re off on a kitchen fitting job. Love how Tyson cuts about like he isn’t one of the most recognisable men in the planet

Back on the HE WP conference circuit today for the first time this year. Debuted my newest rant. “Their is no Hierarchy in Our Community” where I blend the ideas of asset based community development and co-design to challenge WP project design. I wore a trackee and swore as per!

Fatherhood is the greatest privilege I’ve ever had, but not all see it that way. Bless up to the step dads, the mums who are dads too, the grandparents, the aunts, uncles and friends who step in to play their roles,

First bit of unsupervised outdoor exercise since my knee reconstruction and it’s safe to say I’m absolutely buzzing (and dead tanned)

Back in work after 3 months off. Returning with a mega tan, new (90’s boy and) haircut and a knee full of screws. The working world of Widening Access and Education Inequality better watch out ha ha

@JonRainford That’s the good thing for me, it makes me concentrate, clears my mind. The thought of imminent injury is enough to keep me focussed ha ha

Please excuse the toplesness but I’m absolutely buzzing to have been given the all clear to start some proper exercise after 3 months. No physical activity and adhd are not a good mix.

I’m excited to announce (LinkedIn style) that I walked without crutches today and my knee didn’t fall apart.

Silly sock day but let everyone know it’s St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ 🇮🇪

@JonRainford Ha ha yeah my day of playing dress up was very odd, must have been the codeine

Managed to walk/crutch to the park today. Hero

I really wish our government cared as much about the crippling costs of living as much as they did about people risking their lives fleeing war, famine and persecution crossing the channel in dinghies

Gone out for the afternoon dressed like a sixth former from a posh school. Look like I’m wearing a disguise ha ha ha

Day 10 post knee reconstruction and I managed to get a shower on my own and made my breakfast. Hero, however I weigh roughly what I did as an 18 year old academy footballer, which isn’t ideal.

I had knee reconstruction surgery (football related) on Friday, a whole set of new ligaments and loads of knackered bits of knee taken out. All I can say is the NHS is awesome, well that and Christ I’m sore.