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Often prisoners want a mat of their own so they can practise in their cells. For many years, people imprisoned in England & Wales couldn’t keep yoga mats in their cells (though all prisons don’t always follow all regulations so some prisoners did have mats). But it is now permissible for prisoners to keep yoga mats in their cells. A prisoner at HMP Frankland made a complaint to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman about needing a mat in his cell for health and safety reasons. The Ombudsman contacted The Prison Phoenix Trust, who presented a range of arguments that the Ombudsman could use in lobbying for this change. As a result Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 30/2013 was updated.
On page 2 of the 70 page document you will find: “Yoga mats have been added to the standardised facilities list…”, meaning the list of things that prisoners are allowed to have. They can usually order things from the facilities list from approved suppliers, like Argos. So if your prisoner students ask if they can have yoga mats, you can let them know the prison service instruction number. If you search and find PSI 30/2013 on-line, the section about the yoga mats is on the second page.

Our summer newsletter is now available to read online here. In this issue we  feature two practical yoga and breathing routines as well as many letters from prisoners, telling of how yoga and meditation have been helping them behind bars. We have an article on the importance of taking the time to lament when we are met with national tragedy – an article sadly very relevant at the moment.

View the newsletter online here!

If you’d like to subscribe to our online newsletter, please fill in this form. If you prefer a paper copy, then drop us a line and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

Chris Herbert, who ran an ultra-marathon for us last year, took on the London Marathon this time around, his sixth time in the race. Chris started running over thirty years ago, while in the forces. He has been going to the staff yoga class at Spring Hill Prison for the past three years, and says yoga has been a huge help with his running training.

If you want to sponsor Chris, have a look at his fundraising page here – or you can send a donation direct to us.

We are so grateful to Chris for helping us, just as we are to all the prison officers who support our classes in prison. Whether it’s running a marathon for us or sorting out attendance lists and rooms for our classes, we couldn’t offer yoga and meditation to people inside without the work and kindness of all prison staff.

We are very sad to report the news of the death of one of our trustees, Tigger Ramsay-Brown, on the 3^rd of December 2016 aged 94. Tigger was the sister of our founder, Ann Wetherall, and served as a trustee from early in the charity’s life right up until her death. Tigger lived a rich and exciting life, mainly in India and the UK. For many years she worked for Oxfam, where her passion and energy enabled so many people to be helped. We will remember Tigger as a forthright, fun and deeply compassionate woman, and a beloved friend to the Trust.

We worked with Blackwell’s to celebrate the launch of our newest book for prisoners, Peace Inside: a prisoner’s guide to meditation, edited by our Director Sam Settle and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. The book not only explains how to practise silent breath-based meditation; over half of it is letters about meditation from prisoners to the Trust and replies from volunteers and staff. Peace Inside will be an important book for prisoners, giving inspiration to practise and a window into the hopes and challenges of others in prison, examining their struggles and insight with meditation, and underscoring the friendships which provide encouragement to keep looking deeper.

Paddy O’Connell (of Radio 4’s Sunday morning programme Broadcasting House) hosted the event, discussing the book, prison life, meditation and life after prison with Sam and three former prisoners whose letters appear in the book. The evening was a great success, selling out the space and resulting in many book sales! If you missed out, you can still get a copy here.