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Journey Woman is a creative project, specifically designed for female offenders in prison, to help break the cycle of hardship, offending and prison. Journey Woman aims to give women the confidence, self-esteem, communication and social skills needed to re-integrate successfully into the community and reduce the risk of re-offending.

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Categories

  • Arts/Culture/Heritage Arts/​Culture/​Heritage
  • Community Support & Development Community Support & Development
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Human Rights/Advocacy Human Rights/​Advocacy
  • Beneficiaries

    • Women & Girls Women & Girls

    Situation

    Journey Woman was created in response to the increasing number of women being sent to prison. Statistically we know that women prisoners suffer from a range of severe social exclusion problems. Despite an increase in the number of women being incarcerated, many of the programmes available to them are adapted male programmes and do not address their particular needs. In a wider context the Corston Report 2007 made several recommendations for a radical approach for females offenders, treating women both holistically and individually with 'a woman-centred approach'. Journey Woman and the methods used by Geese compliment this approach, aiming to help women make sense of their lives and equip them with skills they need to reintegrate successfully into society. Journey Woman is a week-long creative residency which takes place in female prisons. The week begins with a powerful mask performance by Geese which follows the story of 'Ellie' a woman who has broken out of a cycle of hardship, offending and prison. Ellie looks back and contemplates how her past has impacted on her present and future. The performance acts as a catalyst for the rest of the week's workshops which involve: - an exploration of 'mask' - the 'front' we present to the outside world - active drama exercises to explore issues relating to the objectives - role play and skills practice exploring difficult situations - presentations created by participants to celebrate their achievements Each residency can accommodate up to 8 women. The end goals for the women include: - increased self-esteem and self-efficacy - increased motivation to change - improved communication skills - ability to set and achieve personal goals - to develop more useful coping skills - to encourage women to become more involved in other prison services such as education, sport and work For the above aims to increase the prospects of reintegrating successfully into society after release and reduce the risk of re-offending. For this next stage in the development of Journey Woman we aim to build on our experiences and learning at HMP Foston Hall, where we have just completed 3 years of funding. We also plan to expand the project and develop a new relationship with another female prison to make the project available to more women. We need support to deliver 4 Journey Woman projects a year, 2 at Foston and 2 at another prison over 3 years. Please help us to raise £72,500 for the delivery and an external evaluation of the project. It will cost £57,000 for the project costs (salaries, development and delivery costs) with a Unit Cost of £538 per female prisoner to undertake the week’s course.

    Solution

    100%
    Categories

  • Arts/Culture/Heritage Arts/​Culture/​Heritage
  • Community Support & Development Community Support & Development
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Human Rights/Advocacy Human Rights/​Advocacy
  • Beneficiaries

    • Women & Girls Women & Girls