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It is with great sadness The Prison Phoenix Trust has learnt of the death of its long-time patron Erwin James. He was a wise, compassionate and intelligent man, who overcame great challenges in childhood to become an inspirational writer and advocate for people in prison.

Director of The Prison Phoenix Trust Selina Sasse said:

“Like many PPT friends, I was deeply moved to hear Erwin talk, particularly how tragic his childhood was and how his young adult life had unravelled. He did so much in his life to help others and we were fortunate that he chose to include our work. His death was very sudden and out of the blue. We are deeply saddened and shocked.” 

Erwin told his extraordinary life story in 3 memoirs, A Life Inside, The Home Stretch, and Redeemable. Born in Somerset in 1957, he lost his mother at the age of seven and his father turned to alcohol and violence. By the age of 10, Erwin was sleeping rough and committing crimes to survive. 

He went to prison in 1984 with a life sentence. While he could read, he wasn’t educated, but he quickly began making the most of his time and took all the courses he could to develop himself. While in HMP Nottingham, he attended his first yoga class. He later told us: Continue Reading

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:  Continue Reading

It is with great sadness we learn of the death of writer and poet Dr Benjamin Zephaniah who was a valued and beloved patron of The Prison Phoenix Trust. 

For over two decades, Benjamin advocated for prisoners – and the work of our charity bringing hope and healing through meditation and yoga.

He represented the Trust’s work offering non-judgemental support for the spiritual development of people in prison, whatever their faith or none, on the radio and at public events. His poem, ‘In-exhale’, was written specifically to help people in prison and we share it below.

Benjamin joined The Prison Phoenix Trust at many events over the years, perhaps most memorably at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in 2005 for the launch of the book Freeing The Spirit in which his poem ‘In-exhale’ was first published. This book has inspired more 20,000 prisoners to practise meditation and yoga since it published and is still one of the most requested at the charity.

He also wrote the forward to the book Peace Inside: A Prisoner’s Guide to Meditation, drawing on his own experiences of borstal and prison. “If you’re finding it hard in prison,” he wrote, “and very few people don’t find it hard – meditation is something that will make a real difference. Meditation is a way of not just surviving but thriving in prison because it taps into that natural intelligence that we all have.” Continue Reading

Three new trustees with a wide range of skills have joined the team at The Prison Phoenix Trust (The PPT).

Joyce Borgs, Judith Unwin and Liz Wheen have taken on this voluntary role to share their expertise with The PPT. With experience in digital technology, prisoner education and fund-raising, they will help support the charity as it faces challenges from escalating prisoner numbers and changes to the justice system.

The PPT director, Selina Sasse, warmly welcomed the new trustees. ‘I feel my wishes have been granted with these appointments and I’m excited to be working with each one of them,’ she said. ‘It is a credit to The PPT that we now have an 11 person strong Board of talented, kind and dedicated trustees to work with us in this critical role, at a difficult time for the charity sector.’ Continue Reading

Hollywood star Jeremy Irons has sent his congratulations to The Prison Phoenix Trust on winning Charity of the Year in the Om Yoga Awards.

Jeremy, who lives in Oxfordshire, is patron of the Oxford-based charity, which supports yoga and meditation in prisons across the UK and Ireland.

He said: “I’m so proud to be a Patron of the Prison Phoenix Trust and for them being honoured with this Award.” 

‘In these days when our prison system is suffering such dysfunction as to be almost unmanageable, one bright ray of hope is the work of the Trust. Working with both inmates and staff, using yoga and meditation techniques to lower the inevitable stress brought about by their situation, the Trust offers hope, a life beyond their mental and physical confines, and for the inmates offers a solid framework to carry with them on their release. Continue Reading

 

The Prison Phoenix Trust has been voted Favourite Yoga Charity at the largest yoga event in Europe.

At the OM Yoga Show at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, OM Yoga Magazine editor Martin Clark presented the prize to a delighted Selina Sasse, director of The PPT.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” said Selina. “It’s a real tribute to the hard work and skill of yoga teachers working in prisons. We are enormously grateful to everyone who voted for us and excited about how this will help us to raise the profile of our charity at quite a tough time in prisons.”

The PPT was up against 10 other charities competing for this prestigious prize in its first year. Decided by public vote, the award is in recognition for the 35 years of work by this small, Oxford-based charity that supports rehabilitation through meditation and yoga in prisons, young offenders institutions and secure hospitals across the UK and Ireland.

Also at the show, former prisoner Paul succeeded in performing a 30-minute headstand – an amazing feat, which was sponsored to raise money for the charity.

Paul said: “The Prison Phoenix Trust got me through some very dark times. Yoga and meditation are still supporting me to this day and I wanted to give something back.” Continue Reading

 

 

This year’s cards come in packs of 10, designed by Reg for The Prison Phoenix Trust. The 10 pack is a selection of three designs.

The inside is blank for your message. The cards measure 144 x 103 mm.

Each pack, including postage, is £6.

Please email all@theppt.org.uk to place an order.

The Prison Phoenix Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2022. From new resources to news stories, click here to find out more.

Richard grew up in care and at aged 18 found himself on the streets, left alone to survive. “I had one aim,” he recalls, “to get to the top of the criminal justice system because I didn’t like society and I wanted to pay it back for what it had done to me.”

Over the following decades a criminal career led to a number of sentences served in prisons in England and Wales. But last month Richard, now in his 50s, was in a very different place. In the grand surroundings of the Houses of Parliament, he was speaking to an audience of MPs, peers and policy-makers.

He was there to share his experiences with an All-Party Parliamentary Group, which was hearing the latest research on how yoga and meditation are helping people in prison.

Continue Reading

Find out how yoga and meditation are transforming lives in prison at the Om Yoga Show this year.

The Prison Phoenix Trust will be playing a big part in the weekend event at Alexandra Palace in London 13-15 October.

Visitors to the show will have a chance to meet former prisoners, staff and volunteers at The Prison Phoenix Trust stand, and hear inspiring stories of the healing power of yoga behind bars.

Highlights of the OM Yoga Show

• Workshop: Teaching Yoga in Prisons, Fri 13 Oct 3.15pm – 4.45pm

Are you a yoga teacher curious to join a group of more than 900 others who have taught inside? Come and try The PPT’s training course. It might set you on a rewarding path towards sharing yoga with those who perhaps need it most: people who may have lost their liberty, but not the power to change their lives for the better. Continue Reading