Here are details of newly arranged Contextual Visits for April and June 2026

The Greater Manchester branch of the Magistrates Association have made arrangements for the following newly arranged Contextual Visits for all MA members.

TfGM - Transport for Greater Manchester on Monday 27th April

This meeting and presentation will be at TfGM’s Shudehill Interchange in Manchester City Centre.

We are limited to 10 visitors due to the size of the room available. 

The group will receive a demonstration of Virtual Reality headsets, and a ‘Victimless Crime’ video aimed to tackle youth ASB during the meeting. Hopefully after lunch to also observe a security operation at Victoria Rail Station , which would be a short tram ride away.

A draft itinerary :- 

Monday 27 April

• 10:30am            Arrival at Shudehill Interchange Travelshop
• 10:45am            Welcome & introductions/ tea & coffee                   
• 11:00am            Presentations by:
• GM Combined Authority (GMCA) Violence Reduction Unit
• TfGM TravelSafe Partnership (TSP) team covering TSP Overview and    Youth engagement & demo of VR headsets
• Q&As
• 13:00pm            Buffet lunch
• 13:30pm            Travel to Victoria Rail Station
• 14:00pm            Observation of Security Operation on Victoria Metrolink stop
• 15:00pm            Visit end

The group will meet outside the Travelshop in the Interchange on the day for 10:30am.

Note that we are limited to 10 participants. All Contextual Visits are free of charge. 

Applications to attend this visit to TfGM on the 27th April can only be made via completion of an online form. Click on the following button to open the form:

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Youth Justice Teams

Completely new and especially for Youth Magistrates, although all are most welcome. This visit will provide a valuable insight into the working of Youth Justice Teams and how young people are dealt with outside court.

Tameside/Stockport/Oldham YJS - Tuesday 16th June - 13:00 - 16:00

at Ashton Old Library Ashton under Lyne OL6 7SQ

This is a collaborative offering from a selection YJ staff e.g. Team Manager’s / YJ Practitioner’s/ SALT’s / Victim Worker’s to join us. The heads of service from each borough will also be available for answer questions.

From the visit magistrates can expect:

• Better understand the roles of different staff involved in our multi-disciplinary youth justice teams

• Gain an insight into what happens at a referral order panel meeting & how the referral order ‘contract’ is designed and agreed via the panel process

• Understand how YJS’s arrive at PSR sentencing proposals & Bail proposals

• Understand the role & impact of YJ speech & language therapists and the importance of the new 'communication passports’ in court

• There will also be opportunities to have wider conversations about what is working well in relation to YJ/court partnership working & any areas where this might be further developed.

These visits are open to all members in Adult, Youth, and Family courts and will provide interesting learning for all magistrates. Places will be limited.

It’s important we show strong support as these days take quite a bit of planning from the YJ teams.

All Contextual visits are free of charge.