Evidence regarding the effectiveness of restorative approaches has been growing year on year but when will this reach a critical mass? The Government has commissioned research on the technique and this year may prove to be a benchmark period for restorative justice in the UK . A recent debate in the Lords detailed a critical path for the take-up of restorative approaches in the secure estate, schools and the community. This conference brought together government representatives with key stakeholders in schools, local authorities, the secure estate, the police, local criminal justice boards, probation, youth offending teams and other professionals. Sir Charles Pollard, Board Member, Restorative Justice Consortium, talks about the difficulty of "marketing" restorative justice because of its complexity and the fact that it does not lend itself to sound bites. It does, however, have some good things going for it in marketing terms according to Sir Charles: "The public love crime stories, anything that is human interest is important, the public listen to... it is unusual, it works, it is common sense", he said.