Reducing Reoffending Staff Training Event
A sunny afternoon, a fantastic turnout and a real buzz around all that supports rehabilitation at HMP Thameside.
Neil Barclay, Librarian
The well-attended event brought together colleagues from across the establishment to showcase the wide range of services and activities available to residents, all aimed at supporting rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.
The event was designed to raise awareness of the opportunities available to residents and to help staff identify suitable interventions that can support positive outcomes.
Staff had the opportunity to visit a variety of information stalls, speak directly with colleagues and learn more about the activities available across the prison.
Representatives from Education, the Library, the Fair Centre, the Shannon Trust, Sports Academy and several other departments were on hand to explain their services and discuss referral pathways.
Engagement at the event was excellent, with staff from different areas coming together to share ideas, build connections and strengthen our collective approach to reducing reoffending.
QUICK READS
Staff were also given a selection of Quick Reads – great short books that are easy to read and hard to put down.
Featured titles shown:
- Hunger Pains — Derek Owusu
- Cell One — Leye Adenle
- The Girl in the Picture — Rachel Hore
SIX-WORD STORY COMPETITION
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Six-Word Story Competition on the day. We were delighted with the creativity and thought-provoking stories that were submitted.
Our finalists were selected by Sarah Turvey OBE, Director of Prison Reading Groups (PRG) which is part of the charity Give a Book. Sarah praised the high standard of entries and provided feedback to all the finalists.
Winning entry: “Sunflower hit. Motorway gleamed. Rainbow erupted.”
Feedback: “I love the pattern of the two-word sentences. And the 3 verbs – hit, gleamed, erupted – seem to me brilliant in the way they take on different meanings and change the sense of what’s going on from beauty to possible horror.”
A huge thank you to Give a Book for their generous support in providing the fantastic prizes for our winner and finalists.
A longer version of this piece appeared in the Thameside Staff Newsletter.