therecruitmentjunction.co.uk

Independent public interest mirror, run by The Reasonable Adjustment

CJA Awards 2025 – Outstanding Small Organisation and The Recruitment Junction

In October 2025, The Recruitment Junction was announced as the winner of the Outstanding Small Organisation category at the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) Awards. This page sets out what the award is, who else was shortlisted, and why there is ongoing public interest in TRJ being selected.

This site is not operated by The Recruitment Junction or the Criminal Justice Alliance. It is maintained by The Reasonable Adjustment with a focus on evidence, funding transparency and fair treatment of disabled service users.

Back to CJA Awards hub Open funding breakdown Read the detailed write up

What the Outstanding Small Organisation category recognises

The CJA Awards highlight organisations that are seen as improving outcomes in the criminal justice system. The Outstanding Small Organisation category is aimed at smaller charities or projects that show innovation, impact and lived experience involvement.

For people outside the sector, an award like this is often read as a quality mark. Funders, partner agencies and potential service users may reasonably assume that winners have been checked for basic standards around safeguarding, equality and financial transparency.

This page does not try to second guess the judges. Instead it asks a simple question: what evidence about The Recruitment Junction was available or knowable when this award was made, and how should awards bodies respond when serious concerns surface about a recent winner.

For a deeper discussion of due diligence and process, see Fair process needs facts.

Who was shortlisted in 2025

The 2025 Outstanding Small Organisation shortlist included four organisations whose work touches different parts of the justice system:

  • The Recruitment Junction – a charity that supports people with criminal convictions into work.
  • Justice Is Now – a campaigning and survivor led organisation focused on sexual violence.
  • Release Mates – a project supporting people through the transition out of custody.
  • Sentencing Academy – a research body working on sentencing policy and public understanding.

The Criminal Justice Alliance announced The Recruitment Junction as the winner in this category. As far as we are aware, no public statement was made about the unresolved issues set out in the investigations hosted on The Reasonable Adjustment.

If you represent CJA or any of the shortlisted organisations and believe part of this summary is inaccurate, you can request a correction by emailing [email protected] with the specific line, your source and the wording you believe is correct.

Why this award is being documented here

In 2024 and 2025, detailed evidence emerged about The Recruitment Junction’s handling of disabled service users, data rights and public funding claims. This includes:

  • Documented blocking of email addresses while a Subject Access Request was active.
  • A published claim of receiving no public funding, despite confirmed awards from public bodies.
  • Withdrawal of support from a disabled ex offender shortly after reasonable concerns were raised.

These issues are not speculative. They are backed by correspondence, FOI responses and grant paperwork that can be inspected by anyone.

When an organisation with this record is shortlisted for or wins a sector award, there is a clear public interest in logging that fact alongside the available evidence. Awards influence reputations, funding decisions and where vulnerable people turn for support.

For the primary evidence set, see the TRJ evidence and document archive and public funding breakdown.

How this connects to The Reasonable Adjustment and Ki-Ki

The experience of raising concerns with The Recruitment Junction, and the way those concerns were handled, is the direct spark that led to The Reasonable Adjustment and later Ki-Ki.

The Reasonable Adjustment exists to document cases like this in public, with evidence people can check. Ki-Ki focuses on the technical side: fast static sites, Cloudflare protection and evidence grade logs that make it harder for uncomfortable truths to be quietly rewritten.

The CJA Awards pages on this domain sit at that crossover point. They record how a respected sector body responded to clear evidence and whether it chose sunlight or spin.

Further reading and related pages