Celebrating 1 Year of the AYJ!

Today marks 1 year since we launched as the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ)! The AYJ brings together 75 organisations to advocate for and with children to drive positive change in youth justice.

Originating in the 1990s, we had a long-standing credibility and a strong reputation. The last couple of years have seen the AYJ undertake significant work into creating a more sustainable and effective organisation. Our relaunch as the AYJ has been an opportunity for us to revisit and redefine our main goals and values, to achieve greater clarity on who we are, what we do, and what we want to achieve.

Our diverse network of members range from grassroots community groups to national charities, providing a powerful and member-led voice. The AYJ aims to amplify the views of children and young people, and centre their interests, promoting widespread understanding about the underlying causes of children coming to the attention of the criminal justice system and championing approaches that enable them to reach their full potential.  We are emerging as a strong, highly respected and effective network which punches ‘above its weight’ with those in positions of power across criminal and social justice.

This period of change for the AYJ has coincided with the unprecedented public health crisis, as our sector has worked intensively through the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has demonstrated that the work of our alliance is more crucial than ever. The devastating impact of the pandemic on children and families, and the heightened levels of safeguarding concerns, are major concerns for children involved with the youth justice system as well as those in the general population facing new and increased challenges. As an alliance, we have been able to convene the wide-ranging, established and growing network of organisations and draw on their expertise, enabling us to inform and influence decision-makers and future strategy, policy and practice, in the best interests of children.

We are so proud of the work we have carried out over this past year and greatly appreciative to all of our fantastic members and partners, and particularly to our funders for supporting us to improve youth justice in England and Wales, for the benefit of children, young people, and society.

Take a look through our AYJ timeline below for a roundup of our year!