CJA Awards 2021

The CJA Awards celebrate the outstanding individuals and organisations helping to make the criminal justice system fairer and more effective, generously supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust.

We also hold an annual Media Awards, which celebrate the journalists, documentary makers and digital media champions shining a spotlight on criminal justice, challenging misperceptions and improving public understanding. 

For the 2021 awards, we introduced two new categories to help carry on the legacy of Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, who were tragically killed in the attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in November 2019. 

Shortlists

These are the shortlists for the CJA Awards and Media Awards 2021.

Outstanding Individual

• Winner. Kim Mitchell, who waived her anonymity to challenge the government denying victims of crime compensation if they have an unspent conviction.
• Runner-Up. Razia Hadait, CEO and Founder of Himaya Haven.
• Dr Rebecca Banwell-Moore, a restorative justice researcher.
• Erika Flowers, an artist who delivers workshops in prisons and produces art for campaigns.
• Sunny Dhadley, the National Senior Strategic Lived Experience Advisor for NHS England/Improvement (Health and Justice).

Outstanding Local or Regional Organisation

• Winner. LandWorks, a charity that works with people on day-release from prison, or at risk of going to prison, to aid their rehabilitation and resettlement back into the community.
• Runner-Up. Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service, which supports victims and people who have committed crime through restorative justice.
• StandOut, which provides long-term, holistic support so that people leaving London prisons are empowered to transform their own lives and escape the justice system for good.
• SAFE!, which provides support to children and families around the Thames Valley who have been affected by crime or abuse through one-to-one and group sessions.
• Synergy Theatre Project, a theatre company working with people in prison, people with convictions and young people at risk.

Outstanding National Organisation

• Winner. Women in Prison, a charity that supports women affected by the criminal justice system and campaigns to end the harm caused to women, their families and communities by imprisonment.
• Runner-Up. JENGbA, an organisation campaigning on behalf of and with those wrongfully convicted under joint enterprise laws.
• The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), which provides support to people in prison, people with convictions, and their families.
• KeyRing, which supports adults who need some support to live safely in the community.
• Cranstoun, a charity which offers a wide range of services including community-based substance misuse services, supported housing, specialist services for young people, families, carers, and domestic abuse services.

The Saskia Jones Legacy Award

• Winner. Jenni Steele, Founder of Project Yana CIC.
• Runner-Up. Kendra Houseman, Director of Out of the Shadows.
• Nicola Rees, Treatment Manager of the Restorative Justice Team, HMPPS. 
• Janika Cartwright, Restorative Justice Ambassador at Why me?
• Dianne Ludlow, Head of Advocacy at One in Four.

The Jack Merritt Legacy Award

• Winner. Ebinehita Iyere, Founder of Milk Honey Bees and Therapeutic Diversion Practitioner at Divert Youth, Juvenis.
• Runner-Up. Sammy Odoi, Founder of Wipers CIC.
• Desmond Brown, Founder and Director of Growing Futures UK CIC and Vice Chair of the Avon and Somerset Independent Scrutiny of Police Powers Panel.
• Dan Whyte,  Director of DWRM Consultants.
• Garry Green, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers.

Outstanding Journalism

• Winner. Jackie Long, Channel 4 News.
• Runner-Up. Shanti Das, The Sunday Times.
• David Woode, The i Paper.
• Sarah Turnnidge, previously at HuffPost UK, now at Full Fact.
• Steve Swann and Michael Race, BBC News.

Outstanding Digital Media Champion

• Winner. A Bit of a Stretch podcast.
• Runner-Up. EachOther.
• The Food Behind Bars podcast. 
• Fighting Knife Crime. 
• The F Word podcast.

Outstanding Documentary

• Winner. The Truth About Police Stop and Search, Channel 4. 
• Runner-Up. Hope High, BBC Radio 5 Live. 
• A Death Sentence, BBC Radio 4.
• Behind the Crime, BBC Radio 4 and the Prison Radio Association. 
• The Freshwater Five, The Guardian Today in Focus podcast.

Judges

The judges for the CJA Awards 2021 were:

• Brendan Ross. Brendan manages the St Giles Trust Peer Circles Project and won the Outstanding Individual award in 2020.
• Abimbola Johnson. Abimbola is a barrister and was recently elected as chair of a new independent board to scrutinise racial disproportionality in policing.
• Catherine Hinwood. Catherine is Deputy Director for Victim and Witness Policy at the Ministry of Justice.
• Chief Inspector Jason Kew. Jason is the Lead for Drugs and Harm Reduction at the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit.

The judges for the Media Awards 2021 were:

• Ria Chatterjee. Ria is a broadcast journalist for ITV News London and won runner-up in the Outstanding Journalism award 2020 for her reporting on violence.
• Jacob Dunne. Jacob won the Outstanding Documentary award last year for The Punch, a BBC Radio 4 documentary he presented on his experiences of restorative justice.
• Kate Stanley. Kate is Executive Director of Frameworks UK, a think tank that helps mission-driven organisations communicate about social issues for change.
• Gavin McKenna. Gavin is the Founder of Reach Every Generation and won runner-up in the Outstanding Individual award last year. He has dealt extensively with the media over the years, and will be joined by a young person he supports to judge the awards.