Notes from England

I spent last week in London checking up on our office there. We continue to deepen our understanding of the local culture, broaden our pool of allies and friends, and strengthen our track record of delivering quality product. Among other things, on this trip Aubrey and I met with the leadership of the Labor Party, checked out our new office space at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, met with all three of our core foundation supporters, advised a woman creating a new charity to advocate for judicial change in the UK, reviewed the progress that a team of researchers have made evaluating drug courts in England, and attended a 10th anniversary event for our partners at the think tank Policy Exchange. Aubrey and Anton then left me in London and went to Bristol where they participated in a national probation conference.

Much of whatever free time I had on this trip was devoted to Charles Dickens. My wife, who is working on a Dickens-related book, came over to join me for the weekend and we checked out Dickens exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery, the Dickens Museum and other venues.