Changemakers
Our flagship policy group of women with convictions driving the change they want to see
How we do it
As a collaborative project, we at Working Chance and the Changemakers are co-developing the campaign as we go. Our approach puts the Changemakers' voices and expertise by experience in the foreground, while the organisation facilitates and supports where needed. We believe in self-representation, power-sharing, and decision-making in consultation with every member of the group.
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-1-Exchange
The project is all about sharing ideas, skills, and resources. The Changemakers contribute their lived experience expertise, while Working Chance facilitates training to equip them with the tools and skills to carry out influencing work.
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-2-Collaborate
The Changemakers and Working Chance get together to explore policy issues and find the solutions. Over the course of the project, we will co-design a campaign, led by the Changemakers' expertise and supported by Working Chance's communications and policy team.
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-3-Influence
The project provides a direct line for the Changemakers to influence policymakers about the challenges they face and the solutions they've devised, through creating and finding platforms for the Changemakers' voices to be heard - from policy panels to media opportunities.
Fighting for a better benefits system - #BetterBenefits
Claiming Universal Credit and visiting the jobcentre is an experience shared by many women who visit Working Chance. That's why we're working for a benefits system that tangibly helps women with convictions and enables, rather than impedes, their journeys to employment.
The Campaign
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Changing the game
The voices of women with experience of the criminal justice system are too often ignored or overlooked. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Changemakers, a policy and campaign group of women with convictions fighting to change the system.
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Fighting for a better benefits system
Many women with convictions rely on Universal Credit to survive. Changemakers are advocating for a system that works for them. Here are some main issues that need urgent attention.
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Cutting the lifeline: What does it mean for women with convictions on Universal Credit?
Today, Universal Credit – the benefits system supporting millions of families in the UK – is being cut by £20 per week, the biggest overnight cut to social security since World War Two. Changemakers are calling on the government to #KeepTheLifeline.
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For Universal Credit recipients like me, scrapping the £20 uplift is another way to punish people in poverty
One of the Changemakers, Catherine, writes her story for gal-dem magazine.
Read her story
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‘We’re already on a knife-edge’: Universal credit claimants reveal fears over impending cut
One of the Changemakers, Sonja, shares her story with The Independent.
Read her story
We know what it’s like first hand to have a conviction. We’ve experienced the negativity, the judgements, and everything that’s gone with that. That’s why I wanted to be in this group. I don’t think you can understand the impact a conviction has without living through it.
Sonja Changemaker
The Changemakers project is made possible through the kind contribution of the Lloyds Bank Foundation.