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The Prison Phoenix TrustPO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF - U.K. Charity Reg. 327907 |
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The Situation NowWe are presently in touch with over 3000 men and women in prisons, young offender units and secure hospitals throughout the UK and Eire, as well as a thousand prison staff. In addition we have helped to establish 156 regular prison yoga classes of which 35 are classes for prison officers and staff in a total of 82 prisons. The nationwide Open College Network has accredited the yoga and meditation units which we initiated for inclusion in formal Prison Service programmes under the course title 'Self Discipline through Meditation and Yoga'. LettersDuring 2006 we received 1546 letters from prisoners, ex-offenders, inmates of Young Offender Units, patients in Secure Hospitals and prisoners’ relatives.
"Since I began to meditate, I've turned into a real honest pussy cat! The other day some guy left his watch
behind - a nice piece of equipment too. Well, I grabbed it and gave it to him. My first instinct was to return it
to him. The guy didn't even say thank you, but that was okay because I felt good about myself. What do you think?
What is happening here?" Prison WorkshopsThe workshops we conduct are free and we are encouraged that prison officers themselves are asking for workshops and regular classes. At the end of 2006, 35 classes for staff were established - there is an enthusiastic response to our staff class workshops everywhere. A full listing of the classes running now is available through this link as an Acrobat file. During the year PPT staff travelled widely and gave 35 prison workshops in the UK and 3 in Eire. We established classes in 20 new prisons during 2006. Prison Yoga Teachers
BooksA vital part of our work continues to be the despatch of our eight books. Last year we sent out 3879 books, talking books, and cassettes on meditation and yoga practice. In 2006 we produced a CD of yoga, relaxation, breathing and meditation techniques for inmates to use in their cells.
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We have developed and widened
our training to qualified and experienced yoga teachers and hold 2 annual Oxford-based training days. For Scottish and Irish
prison yoga teachers we hold annual training days, in their countries. We respond to invitations to give yoga training days
all over the UK which act as a good source of recruitment of teachers.
We continue to offer guidance and support to over 300 prison
yoga teachers (95 of whom are currently teaching 156 prison classes) through letters, meetings, workshops on specific
prison issues and a telephone help-line.NB: The remit of the Prison Phoenix Trust is to support prisoners in the UK and Eire. We do not have the resources to assist prisoners elsewhere, or respond to requests.