Professional profile
Angus McLewin originally trained as a photographer, then subsequently as a teacher, theatre practitioner and dramatherapist. He has worked for over twenty years with disadvantaged and disaffected groups in project delivery, development and management, particularly in the areas of community arts, mental health, disability and latterly in criminal justice.

From 1999-2004, he became a co-director of the Unit for the Arts and Offenders (now the Anne Peaker Centre) and helped develop the role of the Unit as the national umbrella organisation for supporting and promoting the value of the arts in relation to criminal justice issues in the UK.

He co-ordinated the delivery of the ‘Splash Extra’ programme in the Summer of 2002 for Arts Council England, which resulted in over 200 arts projects taking place in the identified highest crime areas in the country; initiated REACTT, the forum for research into the arts in criminal justice and co-edited the first comprehensive literature review on the Arts in the criminal justice system, ‘Doing the Arts Justice’ (2005), funded by Arts Council England, DCMS and the DfES and developed and delivered the core modules for the National Training Consortium for Arts in Criminal Justice (NTCACJ), which has provided training for over 300 artists and other key professionals from 2001 to 2004/5.

In June 2004, he became an independent consultant in the arts and social policy, and worked on Arts Council England’s national strategy for ‘The arts and young people at risk of offending’ (October 2005), researched a scoping paper for Creative Partnerships’ national office on ‘Children and young people at risk of exclusion’. He has worked with Irene Taylor Trust Music in Prisons to produce ‘Time Well Spent’ and with PAL Labs of Learning to facilitate a residential colloquium on the training needs of artists working with volatile and challenging children and young people. This resulted in the establishment of ‘The Training Observatory’, a three-year web-based programme to develop a specific CPD and training information network on courses and resources for professionals working with the Arts with children and young people in volatile and challenging situations, across the key social inclusion sectors.
http://www.thetrainingobservatory.org.uk/home/

He went on to research and produce arts-based strategies for addressing gun and gang crime issues across the UK; working with Local Authorities and YOTS to develop sustainable arts development officer posts; and became a member of the original Arts Alliance Steering Group (2008-10), being invited to be part of their Evidence-Building sub committee.
http://artsalliance.ning.com/page/about-us

2011 - 2012
He is currently researching keys issues impacting on support and advice for young people and young adults following the proposed changes in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill The issues focus on the impact on social welfare law, family law, young people in custody, children excluded from schools and immigration issues through the intended cuts to Legal Aid services.

Personal profile
Born in Essex and brought up in Kent, he then moved to London and having eventually returned to the North Kent coast, considers himself to be one of the ‘Estuary folk’. He has two adult sons involved in digital consultancy and music production respectively and relishes his new role as a proud grandfather to two grandsons.

He plays African and Latin percussion, watches wildlife, attempts to nurture rare shingle plants, mucks about with boats and spent far too long making a soundtrack for a video project he started on the theme of Time!

He has recently returned to ‘conventional photography’ with an exhibition entitled ‘Estuary English’ - a collection of limited edition photographic prints capturing some of the moments in the cycle of the tides and time on part of the Thames Estuary, in and around Whitstable. Taken over a period of seven years, he is now developing it into a digital book.