bthechange CIC

bthechange CIC Our team are vastly experienced in working with people with complex needs and from a range of diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Multi-award winning Community Interest Company spanning the Southwest of England and South Wales, dedicated to empowering first-time entrants, racially minoritised individuals, and women that are facing challenges within the criminal justice system. bthechange CIC is an award-winning Community Interest Company that operates across The Southwest of England and South & Mid Wales providing a range of life changing initiatives to directly support over a thousand individuals a year with moving forward with their lives that are either at risk of entering or who are in the criminal justice system. bthechange not only provides structured programmes for client support, but we also play an active role in system change, working with those ‘intermediaries’ whose policies, rules, processes, cultures, and attitudes affect people with convictions. We have specialists in our team that covers: Substance misuse (psychosocial motivational interventions relapse prevention – managing/recognising triggers), Finance Benefit and Debt, Welfare support including Housing, universal credit, bank account & I.D applications, Employment support – CV writing, job applications & Neurodivergent inclusive programmes. We are extremely committed and proud of being an equal opportunities and diverse organisation, of which is demonstrated by our team who come from a multitude of backgrounds, with varied cultures, beliefs, and sexual orientations. We truly are a company that represents society.

Shocking levels of homelessness continue to provoke much consternation among housing and charity sector leaders, so the ...
27/02/2026

Shocking levels of homelessness continue to provoke much consternation among housing and charity sector leaders, so the government’s latest package of measures to tackle the crisis are certainly welcome.

In the wake of the latest official figures on homelessness released yesterday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) announced that over £50m is to be “pumped” into efforts to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

The money will target the people and places that are considered to be most under pressure, with the funding split across two major programmes.

A £37m Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, will – the department says – “supercharge” the work of voluntary, community, and faith groups. These are often the first port of call for people in crisis.
-
https://housingdigital.co.uk/behind-every-statistic-is-a-human-story/
-




27/02/2026

Yesterday the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the official annual snapshot estimate of the numbers of people sleeping rough in each local authority area across England in autumn 2025.

Numbers in Exeter?

51.

51 people counted sleeping rough on the night of 12 November 2025.

That is a 364% change over the 2024 count, which is in part due to a change in methodology from overnight count to count plus estimate.
This is the highest number ever recorded for the city since the snapshot was first carried out in 2010. The previous highest estimate was 41 people sleeping rough in November 2016.

Exeter’s figures place the city within the top 5 local authorities and districts in England with an estimated rate of 36.8 people rough sleeping per 100,000 population count.

Our CEO Peter Stephenson said, "The key thing for me is that now we have a more realistic picture of the numbers sleeping rough in our city. This will help to inform the strategy to get people off the streets and into stable accommodation. For too long the number of rough sleepers has been significantly underestimated."

A COMPREHENSIVE MAPPING EXERCISE UNDERTAKEN BY HOMELESS LINK ON BEHALF OF THE MINISTRY FOR HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCA...
26/02/2026

A COMPREHENSIVE MAPPING EXERCISE UNDERTAKEN BY HOMELESS LINK ON BEHALF OF THE MINISTRY FOR HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT..
-
Until now, limited data has been available on the homelessness workforce, despite rising numbers of people experiencing homelessness and increasing complexity of support needs necessitating a sufficient supply of knowledgeable and skilled workers. Consequently, MHCLG commissioned this work to fill this evidence gap and gain a baseline understanding of the homelessness workforce as a foundation for the National Workforce Programme announced as part of the National Plan to End Homelessness.

The findings show that 30% of staff had previously worked in the health and social care sector, with the remainder joining from diverse professional backgrounds and sectors. A quarter of staff reported that they had lived experience of homelessness.

The research also reveals that the homelessness sector is values-driven with committed staff. The top reported benefit of working in the sector is the ability to have a meaningful impact (75%). Eighty-six percent of staff feel that their work has value and 70% of staff experience job satisfaction. Over half (54%) of those surveyed have worked in homelessness for six or more years, with 35% having at least ten years’ sector experience.
-
https://homeless.org.uk/news/scale-of-homelessness-workforce-revealed/






JUSTICE COMMITTEE CHAIR COMMENT: COURTS AND TRIBUNALS BILL-Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP Andy Slaughter s...
26/02/2026

JUSTICE COMMITTEE CHAIR COMMENT: COURTS AND TRIBUNALS BILL
-
Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP Andy Slaughter said:
“Today’s publication of the Courts and Tribunals Bill and the Lord Chancellor’s speech yesterday show the Government is serious about its intention to control the Crown Court backlog by a combination of investment, greater efficiency and reform, including controversial proposals on how and where cases will be tried.
-
“Announcements on uncapped Crown Court sitting days, a multi-year agreement with the Lady Chief Justice and investment in the crumbling court infrastructure are very welcome set against a backlog which is leaving victims of crime and defendants waiting years for their cases to be heard.
-
“Further digitalisation measures across civil as well as criminal justice is long-overdue and puts into effect recommendations made in the Justice Committee’s recent County Court report, which warned of a ‘dysfunctional’ system that has ‘failed’ adequately to deliver civil justice across England and Wales.
-
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/102/justice-committee/news/212075/justice-committee-chair-comment-courts-and-tribunals-bill/
-

25/02/2026

Deputy Prime Minister sets out vision for the justice system.
-
Victims will benefit from a ‘transformed’ justice system, the Deputy Prime Minister has set out in a speech earlier today (24 February).
-
Speaking at the Microsoft AI Tour at the Excel Centre in London, David Lammy presented his vision for the future of the court system that will deliver faster and fairer justice for victims by combining investment, reform, and modernisation.

The Deputy Prime Minister also set out several key measures that will be taken forward from Part Two of Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of Criminal Courts.

This included the creation of a National Listing Framework – standardising the process of how it is decided when cases are heard in court to stop there being a variation from court to court.

It will help address what many view as a postcode lottery for victims of crime. This will help ensure serious cases, like r**e and sexual offences, are treated with the consistency and urgency they deserve.
-
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deputy-prime-minister-sets-out-vision-for-the-justice-system
-





Time to care – one year on-Published: February 25, 2026-A year ago, our ‘Time to care’ thematic report highlighted some ...
25/02/2026

Time to care – one year on
-
Published: February 25, 2026
-
A year ago, our ‘Time to care’ thematic report highlighted some inadequate support to help women cope in prison. We raised concerns, including a lack of attention to basic elements of decency and the common use of punitive responses to women in crisis.

Since then, we have inspected four women’s prisons (Send, Eastwood Park, Bronzefield, and Low Newton) and have returned to Foston Hall for a review of progress. What we have found during these visits has been encouraging: HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has taken our concerns seriously. We have seen clear signs of improving practice and important cultural change.

Improved staff-prisoner relationships

Positive staff-prisoner relationships are the foundation of a safe environment for women in prison. Specific training had been introduced for new officers allocated to women’s prisons, and the ongoing rollout of ‘Behind the Behaviour’ training was helping them to better understand how life experiences can shape behaviour. HMPPS had appointed two new forensic psychologists to speed up the rollout of this training.

https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/time-to-care-one-year-on/




FANS URGE BOSSES TO TACKLE SOCIAL MEDIA ABUSE.-Warinder Juss, Labour MP for Wolverhampton and a football fan, pledged to...
24/02/2026

FANS URGE BOSSES TO TACKLE SOCIAL MEDIA ABUSE.
-
Warinder Juss, Labour MP for Wolverhampton and a football fan, pledged to escalate the case to ask government ministers about working with social media companies to prevent offensive comments from appearing.
-
The politician added: "When something like this happens, it affects me at another level personally, because for years I did not go to a football match [as] I was always told I would be racially abused [for] my appearance and the colour of my skin.
-
"My other concern is sadly racism seems to be rising in society in general, and I think it's pouring onto our terraces again, which is really sad because I remember the 1970s and we really need to take strong swift action.
-
"We cannot carry on having this racial abuse of our players every time something goes wrong on the pitch, it's happened before and it will happen again unless we take action."
-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg1vx9977wo
-

24/02/2026

POLICE INVESTIGATE RACIST ABUSE OF FOUR PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS
Police are investigating online abuse directed at Premier League footballers over the weekend, with offenders warned: "Anyone who believes they can hide behind their keyboards should think again."
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the head of the UKFPU, said on Monday: "There is absolutely no place for racial abuse, either online or in person, and anyone who believes they can hide behind their keyboards should think again.
"The UKFPU condemns this abhorrent behaviour and we will ensure that, through our dedicated team of officers, we do everything possible to identify those responsible and bring them to justice."

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/48013434/police-investigate-racist-abuse-four-premier-league-players

Address

The Gallery, Kings Wharf
Exeter
EX24AN

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when bthechange CIC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram