For forty years now, Prisons Week has prepared prayer literature to enable the Christian community, through individuals and churches, to pray for the needs of all those affected by prisons. Spurgeons is one of twenty organisations working in prisons who…
While coronavirus put Norwich through lockdown, prison residents in the city were rolling up their sleeves and doing their bit to transform the children’s play area of a prison visitor centre. The visitor centre at Norwich Prison, run by Spurgeons…
Dr Harry Annison, Associate Professor at Southampton Law School, has worked with Spurgeons on a new booklet – Offering a Helping Hand – to support the families of those serving IPP, a particular form of indeterminate prison sentence. It’s a…
Spurgeons has published a new booklet that addresses the impact of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and other indeterminate sentences on prisoners and their families. Offering a Helping Hand is a joint publication by Spurgeons and Southampton Law School and…
While a new report* states that “significant threat levels” remain for our prisons from Covid-19 and calls for restrictions to be kept in place till April 2021, a children’s charity continues to lead innovative ways to support both prisoners and…
A new Visitors’ Centre at HMP Lewes will receive a High Sheriff’s Award, this month, for “establishing a really friendly and welcoming atmosphere in a place that can be frightening for visitors.” These are the words of Mrs Violet Hancock,…
The received picture of life in today’s prisons is very negative, painted by so many stories of overcrowding, drugs, self-harming, suicides and violence. Yet a pattern has emerged of something more positive – the visitor centres and family support services…
A programme at HMP Winchester that works to improve the lives of children and families affected by imprisonment has received a major funding boost. Invisible Walls, run by Spurgeons Children’s Charity, supports fathers to improve their parenting skills and build…
A new partnership between a prison reading scheme promoted by Spurgeons Children’s Charity, a community children’s book group, a local book shop and East Sussex County Council has proved a major boost in spreading the joy of reading between fathers…
On the eve of Prisons Week (13-19 October), Spurgeons Chief Executive Ross Hendry invokes the compassion, hope and inclusiveness brought by those ‘angel’ volunteers in our prisons Prisons are not nice places. That may seem an obvious statement, but one…