Innovation for social justice

I left home when I was a teenager. It was not a decision that I made with others or after a lot of thought. But it was a decision that felt right. But it was not an easy reality, as I was faced with a question. What to do with my life?

Diagnosed with ADHD and with a tendency to never stop and always think and create, I had a choice. Put these superpowers to good use, or have then as an excuse for a deviant or idle life.

Since then, I have been honoured to be joined by many in a wonderful and rewarding life journey of creation. From this page, you can access some of the results of this journey including the organisations I set up and the movements I try to energise for social justice. If any of these inspire you simply drop me a line. I would love to hear from you. I learn every day. And if there is one message I would like to give “Don’t stop chasing stars”.

 

The foundations of all my work are found in my belief that the most persistent and indeed silent driver of human suffering, poverty and inequality is power abuse. While power can be a positive lever for change and social justice, if abused, it can lead to conflicts, greed, harm and wars. 

I fear that we have become accustomed to seeing and accepting power abuses. My work and my life mission is to help us see that WE matter. 

The story of the hummingbird says it better than me. "I am doing what I can", or as Martin Luther King said: "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way". 

My hummingbirds

I am the Founder and Director of RJ4All, which is an international institute with a mission to address power abuse and relieve poverty through the use of restorative justice values and practices. We advance community cohesion and human rights, as we redistribute power in a more equal way by delivering social justice and poverty relief projects, educational programmes and high quality volunteering opportunities to the most marginalised groups of society while supporting civil society to achieve its mission. RJ4All is based in London where the RJ4All Community Centre also provides direct services to communities across the country.

In 2023, I also set up in Cyprus RJ4All’s sister organisation RJ4All Europe. 

I am the Founder of RJ4All Sports, the charitable fitness branch of the Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All). I believe in the power of sports in bringing people together, addressing marginalisation and community cohesion issues, while improving well-being and health outcomes. I am also a personal trainer and a great believer that food is medicine! 

In 2013, I set up RJ4All Publications to act as the independent, publishing arm of the RJ4All International Institute. RJ4All Publications is now recognised as the world’s leading, independent publisher of restorative justice e-books. It is also the publisher of two peer-reviewed journals: The Internet Journal of Restorative Justiceand the Youth Voice Journal.

We also specialise in social sciences and the publication of cutting-edge research including but not limited to restorative justice, youth issues, criminal justice, equality and human rights.

Youth Voice Journal

I am the Founder and Editor in Chief of The Youth Voice Journal (YVJ™) which is the leading international peer-reviewed journal publishing theoretical contributions and empirical studies on issues affecting young people and youth work. YVJ™ is published by RJ4All Publications and is ranked and indexed by Scopus, ORCID, Kudos, Criminal Justice Abstracts, EBSCO and ERIH PLUS.

Internet Journal of Restorative Justice

I am the Founder and Editor in Chief of The Internet Journal of Restorative Justice (IJRJ®), which is the leading, international peer-reviewed journal on restorative justice. It was established in 2012 to push the boundaries of criminal justice by adopting a unique, practical approach to researching and investigating restorative justice. It is indexed and ranked by Scopus, Kudos, The European Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS), Criminal Justice Abstracts and EBSCO.

Ebooks - RJ series

RJ4ALL Publications is one of the world’s leading independent publishers of e-Books on restorative justice, youth policy, criminal justice and human rights. The Restorative Justice Series is published by RJ4All Publications and focuses on social sciences and the publication of cutting-edge research on restorative justice, criminal justice, equality and human rights.

I created RJ4All Education to act as the educational arm of RJ4All. Through this department I led on over 30 courses and e-courses certified with Continuous Professional Development. 

In addition, I am the Convener of the Level 5 Diploma in Restorative Justice Practice. It is regulated by The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). The Awarding Body for the Diploma is the RJ4All International Institute.

In 2024, I started a global social justice movement by introducing the “International Restorative Justice Pledge”. This initiative is directly linked with my long-term vision of building the world’s first restorative justice postcode. Together, the two initiatives I believe can make the local global, and the global to learn from the local.

I invite you to sign up to the Pledge and join our world movement. In the words of Martin Luther King,“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things great”. So, let’s make a little thing great, by signing up to our little Pledge today and by allowing it to grow over the years and through the spirit of fraternity.  

Join the RJ4All International Restorative Justice Pledge

You can join the pledge today by filling out the short form below. This will also allow you to receive our monthly newsletter with updates on how we are doing in relation to our pledge and other work,

It does not cost anything to join the pledge, and by joining, you will be able to:

    • use the pledge logo on your publications, website and work
    • join the discussions on future work and projects independently of your location
    • propose work that we could collectively be doing towards our Pledge
    • see your name or organisation logo appearing at the bottom of this page as a pledge supporter!
Click here to join

In 2024, I set up The International Fellowship of Restorative Justice Practitioners (IFRJP). It is an ambitious initiative that aims to connect and empower individuals and services delivering restorative justice globally. Operating within the “restorative justice for all” spirit of our international NGO, the Fellowship is a free global endeavour with the following objectives:

Create a pool of approved restorative justice experts, practitioners and services that RJ4All can tap into for commissioning case work and other services either face-to-face or online.

Connect restorative justice experts, practitioners with researchers and policy makers tapping into our free Restorative Justice Research Network (RJRN).

Map existing restorative justice providers globally, connect & support them and promote our Restorative Justice Practice Framework to drive best practice.

Capacity-build restorative justice service providers with training courses and the Diploma in Restorative Justice Practice, campaigns and information exchange; support RJ4All Education by reviewing new educational initiatives through its Approval Board

Provide voice and representation to the restorative justice global movement and promote the International Restorative Justice Pledge and solidarity.

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In 2001, I founded the IARS International Institute  in my kitchen in the hope that it can give voice and representation to marginalised groups in decision making, policies and practices independently of location or background. A young migrant himself at the time, I believed that by bringing people together through the sharing of power and the values of dignity, equality and fairness, he can challenge top down structures of control and facilitate the development of strong democracies. In February 2020, I stepped down from my role as IARS’ Director after almost 20 years of building a strong charity. They renamed it Sculpt.