Promoting Positive Wellbeing in Prisons
June 26, 2024Posted by:
This week marks World Wellbeing Week, a time dedicated to promoting positive wellbeing across the globe. At PeoplePlus, enhancing wellbeing isn't confined to a single week; it's a year-round commitment. Through our educational delivery in prisons, we aim to create positive wellbeing by offering a supportive and enriching learning environment, offering the men and women with whom we work, not only an education and a qualification, but time away from their cell, the opportunity to learn from and interact positively with their peers, and a pathway to personal growth and emotional healing.
Here's just a flavour of some of the things we’re doing to promote positive wellbeing across the prisons we work in - both everyday, and in celebration of World Wellbeing Week:
- Art classes which encourage self-expression and can be an emotional outlet to allow prisoners to process difficult feelings and experiences. Engaging in art can boost mental health and wellbeing and it supports life skills development, such as patience, focus, and problem-solving. Some artwork from prisoners at HMP Morton Hall was recently exhibited at Bishop Grosseteste University at the ‘Bringing the Inside, Out’ exhibition
- At HMP Warren Hill we have a ‘Creative Space Workshop’ which takes place every Friday. Here the men make gifts and crafts from matchsticks and is designed to minimise isolation and improve social skills by promoting group participation and confidence building. Popular with learners who often disengage from other prison activities due to lack of confidence, the men are able to come together and spend a stress free afternoon matchstick modelling together. The unstaffed event aims to create a supportive, safe space where learners spend time away from the wings.
- Also at HMP Warren Hill the men are working on a ‘Farm Shop’ project. They are putting a proposal together to ensure the seasonal produce, such as peppers, that is grown in the polytunnels by the horticulture students is put to good use for the wider prison community - watch this space for more news on how that project develops!
- At HMP Hollesley Bay a ‘Board Game Day’ is taking place for both prisoners and staff to join in with. Taking place in the library the day will encourage time out of the cells, social interaction, mental stimulation and building valuable personal development skills such as teamwork, patience and critical thinking
- HMP Sudbury is holding a ‘Wellbeing Day’ this week, which has a carnival and fairground theme with a number of activities that prisoners and staff can take part in. These include sporting activities such as crazy golf and a penalty shoot-out, health MOTs, yoga, a smoothie bike and a number of external providers coming in to offer positive wellbeing support for the prisoners, including Care After Combat, Coppafeel, State of Mind Sport, Pension Power and SSAFA.
World Wellbeing Week serves as a reminder of the importance of positive wellbeing, a goal we strive to achieve every day at PeoplePlus. Through our diverse educational and recreational curriculum in prisons, we continue to provide opportunities for personal growth, social interaction, and emotional healing.
Check out more of the great work happening across our prisons here
June 26, 2024Posted by:
