Next week represents the start of my 10th year at ICVA, where the heck has ten years gone?? In 2016, I joined ICVA as a part‑time project officer. I was looking for a role that was interesting, varied, and let me put my criminal justice system knowledge to good use. I’d worked in and around the CJS for more years than I care to count, but policing? That was new territory for me. 

At the start, I couldn’t have told you my PACE Codes from my OPCAT articles (imagine the shame). Thankfully, ICVA turned out to be a pretty forgiving place to learn. 

When I joined, Katie Kempen was CEO and ICVA was still very much a “small but mighty” operation, and we were a merry band of two. One of the first big pieces of work I took on was a review of the membership offer. Which led to what became known (depending who you ask) as Sherry’s Big Tour or Ralphy’s Roadshow. Four locations, four days, up and down the country, talking to schemes about what mattered to them, what they valued, what frustrated them, and what they wanted more support with. In hindsight, slightly ambitious scheduling but it was hugely valuable to meet so many of our members and talk to them.  

I very much remember that what came through loud and clear was just how much people care about independent custody visiting. Scheme managers spoke passionately about their volunteers and their responsibility to support them well. But they also talked about feeling isolated at times, being a scheme manager is often a lone role, juggling a lot, without many opportunities to connect with others who really “got it”. 

So, one of the early challenges for ICVA became: how do we help schemes feel less alone? How do we create spaces to share learning, build confidence, and remind people they’re part of something bigger? 

Looking back now, a lot of what followed grew from that question. 

Some of those early days are a bit fuzzy (middle age can be mean), but a few things stand out. The board was huge and needed streamlining. Governance (I will be forever grateful to Katie for her enthusiasm on this amongst many other things making it easy for me to take over when I moved into the CEO role) and banking processes needed a serious tidy‑up. Membership was changing and growing. 

There was also a lot of logistical sorting out required. Posting cheques around the country for countersigning. Route‑marching board members along the South Bank on a hot day so everyone could get to the bank with their ID. Character‑building stuff in the early days!  

As ICVA changed and developed, so did our confidence and ambition. We began to move more clearly into the policy space and contributing to conversations about custody conditions, dignity, and rights.  

We were so happy when our work in 2019 on menstrual care led to a change in the PACE Codes, it was quite a day when that launched, and we sat around a café table in London to get free meeting space managing our comms and socials nervously but excited. Apparently 3 coffees is one too many for me! We have since undertaken policy work on the inappropriate use of anti-rip clothing, lighting levels, strip searches more widely, and many, many more areas. I am incredibly proud of the work we do in this space.  

For members, the offer became clearer and more consistent. There was more emphasis on sharing practice and creating opportunities for schemes to learn from each other. Training and resources expanded, including the development of our new and amazing e‑learning, making it easier for volunteers and schemes to access extremely high‑quality (even if we do say so ourselves), consistent training across the UK wherever they were.Our members site is well used and loved, giving schemes the chance to swap resources, ask questions and have a community space nation-wide.  

ICVA hasn’t stopped being a team you could fit around a café table. My team have grown in number, skills, confidence, and sheer expertise and this has been one of the real joys of my role. I am very lucky to have the team I have and am supported by a fantastic chair and board. The organisation is still friendly (I like to think!) and values‑driven, but it’s also respected, and influential. The organisation is a very different one to the one I joined ten years ago, and all in very positive ways.  

Through the last ten years, what hasn’t changed is why ICVA exists. Independent custody visiting is about care, accountability, and humanity. It’s about volunteers giving up their time to check on the welfare of people who are often vulnerable, distressed, or simply forgotten once the cell door closes. It’s important. It matters. I am very proud to represent it on the national stage.  

Ten years on, I’m incredibly proud of what ICVA has become and of the small (and sometimes slightly frenetic) role I’ve played in that journey. There’s been plenty to learn, I dare say the odd mistake here and there, and more than a few long train journeys. But I wouldn’t change it. 

Here’s to the next chapter — hopefully with fewer cheques in the post, but the same commitment to making custody more transparent, humane, and accountable.