One Year of Hope Street
It has now been one year since the official opening of Hope Street! We’ve been reflecting on all that has happened since we opened our doors, as well as the challenges and opportunities so far. To mark this occasion, we have produced a special JUSTICE Podcast episode where Edwina and the team look back at our service design and intentions, and reflect on how far we’ve come over the last year – and any challenges we’ve worked to overcome.
This episode draws on previous interviews for the JUSTICE Podcast such as with Lilly Lewis, One Small Thing’s Women’s Involvement Advisor exploring why a different kind of approach and space for women in the justice system was needed. It also examines the design of the project with Mike Worthington, lead architect on Hope Street and Dr Madeline Petrillo, Associate professor of Criminology from Greenwich University who has been researching the co-production design process we used. We hear from Hope Street evaluation lead Dr Emma Plugge from the University of Southampton on the learning we hope to gather over coming years.
To mark one year, we also spoke to the CEO of One Small Thing Claire Hubberstey and several of the team at Hope Street on how the first year has gone, and their challenges, successes and hopes for Hope Street.
I think my primary hope would really be that we take off and we keep being successful, we keep helping women in the justice system, and we're able to really make a difference in the policies and procedures that the justice system follows today. Hope Street Community Partner
Hope Street: Our highlights from year one
It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since we opened Hope Street! On this day last year, 27th June 2023, we welcomed Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales to officially open Hope Street. During the visit, Her Royal Highness received a tour of the new buildings, met the team, supporters and partners who have driven the programme from design to build over the past six years and learned about the unique support residents will receive. She also visited the onsite creche and heard how Hope Street is working to prevent the trauma of mothers being separated from their children in the justice system, before meeting women who have lived experience of the system to hear about the transformational impact an environment like Hope Street can have on women and their families.
Since then….
Hope Street has won two awards. We are delighted that Hope Street, which was designed by Snug Architects, working alongside our team and women with lived experience won the RIBA 2024 MacEwen Award which celebrates ‘architecture for the common good’. Hope Street was also a winner at the Civic Trust Awards. The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment.
We’ve run a variety of activities for the women at Hope Street such as our weekly baking group, arts and craft workshops, and Aerial Fitness. These provide a great opportunity for the women and team to come together to try something new.
We ran a parliamentary event launching new briefings on how Hope Street has been developed, designed and built to inform wholescale system change. The event was hosted by Ruth Cadbury, Shadow Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation, who provided this platform to share our learning with colleagues, partners and policy makers.
Our healing garden came to life, including the kitchen garden which provides an opportunity for women to learn horticultural skills, including growing fresh produce for our on-site cafe.
Our café is up and running! The café provides unique opportunities for women at Hope Street to gain skills in baking, cookery and catering.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and championed Hope Street in the last year. Your support is helping bring this project to life and driving forward our vital mission to redesign the justice system for women and their children. Here’s to many more years of Hope Street!
More reading on our first year of Hope Street
