Criminologists learn about CoPPer

As part of CoPPer’s awareness raising, Irish CoPPer team members Gerry McNally, Ute Krenzer and Katharina Swirak, presented to BA Criminology students for 2 hours the work of the CoPPer project. The event took place on the 29^th of September at University College Cork and approximately 40 students were in attendance. The presentation and lively discussions focused on the development of the CoPPer project, the findings of the evidence review and the development of the training toolkit. The CoPPer team also brainstormed with students what the benefits of volunteering in Probation could be and lively discussions were held as to the approach of volunteering in probation as a measure to reduce social distance between persons on probation and their communities. Students were keen to take up volunteering themselves and were particularly interested to also hear about the history of the Probation Services and close connections to volunteering and the voluntary sector as well as experiences from other jurisdictions.