The Remand Collective: Constitution
Our Shared Purpose
We come together as women with lived experience of the criminal justice system and as leaders, partners, and allies within our organisations. Together, we are co-creating The Remand Collective — a movement that centres lived experience, redistributes power, and re-imagines leadership through feminist, intersectional and trauma-informed practice. We come together to create meaningful change for women on remand and in the community. We believe that the most effective responses to women’s needs are designed with them, not for them.
We recognise that every woman’s experience of the justice system is shaped by her personal history, culture, and social context, and that collaboration must be built on safety, respect, transparency and trust.
This Constitution represents our shared commitment to co-production — a way of working that values all forms of knowledge and expertise equally, including lived experience, collective experience, professional and academic knowledge, and community insight.
As we sign this charter, we also honour and centre the voices of women who cannot be with us today — those who are currently in prison or otherwise unable to participate directly.
Their experiences are vital to our understanding of remand and to shaping fairer, more compassionate systems.
We commit to:
- Actively seeking and listening to their perspectives through safe and ethical channels.
- Ensuring their insights influence our decisions, priorities, and advocacy.
- Holding ourselves accountable for representing them with care, accuracy, and dignity.
Their absence from this room does not mean silence — their voices will remain at the heart of this Collective.
Our Collective Principles
Shared Power & Equal Voice
• Every participant — regardless of role or title — has an equal say in decisions.
• We recognise lived experience as expertise.
• We challenge hierarchy, tokenism, and gatekeeping wherever they appear.
Safety & Trust
• We prioritise emotional and psychological safety in all spaces.
• Participants may step out, pause, or opt out without penalty.
• Confidentiality is agreed collectively and held with care.
Transparency & Accountability
• We make information, decisions, and resources visible to all.
• Mistakes or harms are addressed openly and with repair.
• Accountability flows both ways — from CEOs to participants with Lived Experience and vice versa.
Care & Compassion
• We treat one another with kindness, not judgment.
• We acknowledge emotional labour and support our own and others’ well-being.
• We value rest and reflection as part of our collective work.
Inclusion & Accessibility
• We make meetings, language, and materials (free of jargon and acronyms) accessible to all.
• We honour difference — cultural, neurodiverse, and lived realities.
• We remove barriers to participation, including practical and financial ones.
Growth & Learning
• We see feedback as an act of care, not criticism.
• We commit to unlearning bias and practising reflexivity.
• We celebrate progress, however small.
Our Mutual Expectations
What Lived-Experience Members Offer
- Bring honesty, creativity, and courage in sharing insights and stories.
- Hold space for collective learning, even when uncomfortable.
- Model co-production by taking leadership roles where safe and supported.
What We Need from CEOs / Leaders / Professionals
- Listen without defensiveness — allow lived experience to lead the conversation.
- Share power and decision-making — include co-producers in governance, budgets, recruitment and strategy.
- Resource the process — ensure fair pay, travel, childcare, training and emotional support.
- Model vulnerability — acknowledge limits of professional knowledge and privilege.
- Commit long-term — embed co-production beyond this programme.
- Champion lived experience externally — amplify voices rather than speaking for them.
- Centre growth and progression – sharing knowledge and expertise to support individual growth, including opportunities for shadowing, work experience and employment.
What We Promise Each Other
- To stay curious rather than certain.
- To check assumptions and apologise when needed.
- To protect collective safety before productivity.
- To remember joy, humour, and celebration as part of our activism.
Decision-Making and Communication
- We use consent-based decision-making: “good enough for now, safe enough to try.”
- Minutes, notes, and actions are shared promptly and openly with all members.
- Conflicts are addressed in circle, supported by the Collective Project Manager or an appropriately agreed facilitator. Conflict will be seen as a chance to learn and grow.
- Leadership rotates; no one holds authority by default.
Our Commitment to Change
This Charter is not symbolic — it is a living agreement guiding how we build a feminist, intersectional and trauma-informed Collective.
We will review and renew it every six months to reflect our growth and learning.
Signatures :
(All members — lived experience facilitators, CEOs, and allies)
Closing Reflection
“True partnership means those with privilege risk their comfort so others can share power.”
— The Remand Collective, 2025
