MC Magazine - Summer 2020

Page 42

I KNOW HOW

YOU FEEL

When the world was clapping for carers prisoners around the country were banging on their cell doors. Not in protest but appreciation. Just like us.

T

he pandemic has brought our world and theirs a little closer. Lack of freedom, rules imposed with penalties for transgressions, a yearning to see loved ones, and fears of a new unknown, creates a strange affinity. While wider society is moving out of lockdown the prison environment cannot support relaxing of rules without

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putting health at risk. Nationally prisoners and staff alike have tragically died from Covid. At HMP Garth Prison in Leyland men stay in their cells 23 hours a day to protect them from infection. They leave only to shower and take exercise. Consultant clinical psychologist Simon Crowther is the clinical lead at the

The pandemic has brought our world and theirs a little closer.

Beacon Unit based at HMP Garth. A partnership service between Mersey Care and the prison service, the Beacon supports 48 prisoners who have experienced significant trauma early in their lives. A cornerstone of the service is the supportive relationships that exist between Beacon staff and prisoners.


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