Play in Prison - Children's Links
Today was brilliant, thank you, I felt like a mum again. The best feeling ever!"
(Prisoner attending a Child Visit)
Play in Prison is a project which brings some quality time and normality to the lives of children and young people who have a mother serving a prison sentence.
Children's Links have been working with HMP Morton Hall to make these visits special and provide families with happy memories between visits. The project works with children from the age of a few months right through to teenagers and so has been a huge challenge.
The activities provided during the sessions have included:
T-shirt design
Nail Art
Badgemaking
Electric Guitar workshops
Art and craft
Parachute games
Den building
"Absolutely great day! Love every minute of it and get to spend real quality time with my mum. Also get to be the child for the day!"
(young carer visiting her mum with two younger sisters)
The project encourages parents to play with their children and maintain strong relationships during a difficult period in their lives. The days are planned with the prisoners and prison guards so that it is a whole team approach and everyone has a part to play.
The most rewarding part of this project is seeing families laughing and playing together. It has also had a huge impact on the relationship between prisoners and prison staff, as the staff are given the opportunity to see them as loving parents.
An important aspect of this project is to remember that, although these parents have committed an offence, their children have not. Play in Prison aims to provide these children with an opportunity to enjoy their childhoods.
The prison now has some excellent play facilities and child visits have become so popular that on our last visit we had 20 prisoners and over 30 children.
