The story of the birth of our charity

This is the story of the birth of our charity

To kick off our 20th anniversary, we are featuring our founder, Mary Anne McFarlane. Mary Anne has walked alongside our team for the last 20 years. We cannot thank her enough for all her hard work. She has worked tirelessly to shape CASS+ into the charity you see today.

Chief of Devon and Cornwall Probation

As Chief of Devon and Cornwall Probation back in 2005, Mary Anne had 500 staff and 100 volunteers. She recognised the potential of her volunteers. As Senior Probation Officer in Havant, she had previous experience of an in-court advice desk. Consequently, she could see how this would work in Devon and Cornwall. Above all, Mary Anne understood that people needed help at their point of need, at court.

New York

Whilst on holiday in New York, Mary Anne visited Judge Alex Calabrese at the Redhook Community Court. She was totally inspired and realised that advice and support inside the courts in Devon and Cornwall would be highly effective at reducing re-offending rates. Ultimately, she could see a way of steering people towards tailored one-to-one support and specialist local services.

The perfect model

Mary Anne quickly realised that advice hubs inside the courts would be the perfect model.

Key to Mary Anne’s successful leadership is an ability to spot individual skills and talents and bring the right people together. As a result, she started to build a network of local people who could draw on their community knowledge and partnerships.

The launch of the first in-court hub

In 2005, Baroness Scotland came down to open a new community court in Bodmin. This was the first in-court advice hub in Cornwall. On that day, Mary Anne met Carole Edwards who had been a volunteer at St Catherine’s House Probation Office in Plymouth. At the launch, Sue Caley of the Prison Advice and Care Trust approached Carole to manage the independent in-court service. Thankfully, Carole had received the advanced training provided for all Probation volunteers. Two years later, Mary Anne asked Carole to work alongside the Probation Volunteer Coordinator as an employee two days a week. This was the start of Carole’s journey to eventually lead CASS+ as the CEO for the next 20 years.

Expansion

Through these early years, the team learnt so much. On top of this, they wanted to respond to the needs of the people they met at court. As a result, expansion came fast. Plymouth followed swiftly in 2006, then Truro in 2012, then Newton Abbot in 2018 and Exeter in 2023.

Mary Anne picks up:

‘Over the years, we’ve seen so many cuts, especially to probation and the courts. The police are overwhelmed. CASS+ is practically the last service standing and intact. More money needs to go into crime prevention and CASS+ is the answer. Government services have limited appointments, but CASS+ is always here and will stay with people for as long as they want.

Huge support

The charity sector will always plug the gaps. Our growth has come at the invitation and request from key partners like HMCTS and the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, supported by the Hadley Trust. We are so thankful to them all for enabling us to keep our door open over the last 20 years.’

Trustee

After retiring from the Probation service, Mary Anne continued to support CASS+ as a trustee on our Board from 2015 to 2023, serving as our Chair for the final four years. As a result, CASS+ now has 14 employees across five sites in Devon and Cornwall.

I’m really proud of what this small charity has achieved over the last 20 years.

Huge thanks to Mary Anne for her vision, determination and support through the years.