From The Prison Phoenix Trust Director
This year we have met and grown the engagement with our support by expanding the ways we help and validating what we do.
We have done this by:
- meeting HMPPS’ strategy for new digital support, through enabling people in 67 prisons to follow meditation and yoga instruction on laptops in their cells
- in 3 prisons people can watch our filmed yoga classes on prison TV and in more than 100 prisons they can listen to Freedom Inside – The PPT’s yoga and meditation programme broadcast three times a week on National Prison Radio.
Our one to one guidance continues to be at the heart of what we do with:
- 4 new volunteer mentors have been trained and joined the team providing careful and personal guidance and growing our team to 18 trained letter writers sharing 490 individual mentoring letters
- we have provided 2,249 packs of resources for self-study including specialist DVDs, CDs, handouts and books – including those suitable for people who struggle to read
- After a pilot in 2022, First Night cards offering help during the difficult first days were rolled out more widely to the induction units in 12 prisons
- peer-support newsletters have helped 5,015 people, of the prison population, be inspired and encouraged by the experiences of others
- We supported 200 prison staff who ordered specialist yoga and meditation resources through our website.
The experience of face to face, trauma responsive group classes can’t be underestimated as a valued intervention for rehabilitation. We have supported regular yoga and meditation classes in 58 prisons, young offenders institutions, approved premises, immigration removal centres and secure hospitals
- 6 of the prisons we have supported this year have been through winning contracts put out to tender, with 2 more getting started for 2024 delivery
- to grow this we’ve worked in 13 prisons teaching over 30 taster workshops, as well as 3 wellbeing days in prisons, giving prisoners and staff an opportunity to experience the effects of yoga on calming the nervous system, supporting mental and physical health
To achieve this we have invested in our people:
- recruiting 3 new trustees to create a strong Board of 11
- expanding our staff and consultant team. With 5 new members joining this year. Lou our yoga coordinator, plus Georgia and then Jane supporting our communications and fund raising and external bookkeeping support through Sheila and Moay Sin at SPX
- 37 qualified yoga teachers undertook our a new hybrid model of training with The PPT to equip them to teach trauma-responsive yoga and meditation safely and effectively in secure environments.
- They form part of a network of 100 teachers with access to The PPT’s ongoing support
- 4 new office volunteers have helped ensure the flow of letters, resources and record keeping has a quick turnaround
- Overall our volunteer support has grown by over 30%
The effectiveness of our approach
After 8-week Mindfulness courses run at HMP Downview July-Sept 2023:
- 81% experienced meaningful improvement in mental wellbeing;
- ‘low’ mental wellbeing decreased from 91% to 0%;
- ‘moderate’ mental wellbeing increased from 19% to 73%;
- ‘high’ mental wellbeing increased from 0% to 27%.
In September 2023 an All Party Parliamentary Group heard from the growing body of evidence that yoga and meditation ease the mental health symptoms associated with trauma. Dr Nora Kerekes presented her findings1 (Kerekes 2017, 2019, 2021) that yoga improves positive emotional states, and reduces negative states that lead to re-offending. She found yoga in prison:
- increased sense of responsibility, self-acceptance, and self-control
- improves impulse control and sustained attention
- decreases antisocial behaviour and negative affect states
- reduces psychological distress, paranoid and obsessive thought
Selina Sasse, Director, December 2023