Story

Space2face Shetland is an independent and confidential service which uses Restorative Justice and the arts to bring those harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication. We enable everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward. Our service is available to people of all ages.

Space2face was co-founded in 2008 by Alyson Halcrow and Clair Aldington, in conjunction with the Children’s Reporter (the Scottish referral system for young people at risk of harm or offending) and Justice Social Work. We all saw the need and had a passion for developing a restorative service in Shetland. This built on the work that Alyson was already doing in Shetland and Clair had been doing in England. Originally, Space2face was a partnership project between the Community Mediation Team and Shetland Arts before becoming an independent charitable organisation in 2016. We are managed by a board of trustees and are proud that our board includes former clients who have been harmed through crime. In 2016, we received a Restorative Practice UK Award for our creative approaches to restorative justice (criminal justice category).

We are a unique project in the UK as we use the arts, the making and gifting of things, within restorative justice processes. You don't have to be creative or arty to use our service! We've just learned that through making, talking about difficult things is sometimes easier. Take a look at some of the items people have created through Space2face Shetland.

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