HMP/YOI StyalGreener on the Outside: Prisons

l prisoners actively engaged in gardening;

l prisoners gaining skills they can use onrelease and so potentially reducingfuture criminal activity;

l vegetables and herbs grown byprisoners for prisoners, so raising theirself esteem;

l the vegetables and herbs allowedprisoners to taste what they may nothave experienced before;

l the use of the foods in the self cateringhouses introduced a wider variety offoods contributing to prisoners diets;

l the flowers raised the profile of theprison grounds and introduced prisonersto the way of growing flowers properly;

l the growing of all items is supervisedand the prisoners shown how tocultivate plants whilst gaining anaccreditation, allowing for potential jobopportunities upon release and reducedcriminal activity;

l the programme is aimed at the youngoffenders as well as the adult prisonersallowing opportunities for all prisonersthat want to be involved;

l the growing project is linked to recycling,this included an area for reusing itemssuch as broken tables and making theminto usable flower beds; and

l GOOP at HMP Styal is working withlocal garden centres for potentialemployment on release.

Contact

Michelle BaybuttPan Regional PrisonsProgramme Lead: Health,Inclusion and Citizenship

mbaybutt@uclan.ac.uk01772 893764

A bid was placed to Greener On The Outside (Prisons) on the 29th September2008 for a programme to reinstate the extensive greenhouses that wereavailable within Styal prison, and have been left unused for a number of years.The prison wanted to utilise the unused, large greenhouses to grow flowers,vegetables and herbs, for reuse within the prison. In doing this the project wasable to create bedding flowers around the estate making it ascetically pleasingand more relaxing, as well as growing crops to use in the self catering housesallowing the women to use them for cooking and to experiment with newrecipes. The GOOP project employs adult and young offenders and provides afabulous opportunity to gain an accreditation in basic horticultural skills.

The benefits of regenerating the greenhouses have been:

BEE KEEPING PROJECTThe Bee Keeping Project started during the winter of 2009. Bee Keepingcourses were held with Graham Royal (President of The Cheshire BeeSociety) from November 2010 through to the end of February 2010. Atotal of 16 people were trained made up of staff and prisoners. An areafor the bees was identified and the GOOP team began work to preparethe area where the hives would be situated and a path was laid. Thebees arrived in the prison in May 2009. The first queen bee was namedElizabeth and the new queen is called Ann. The first extraction ofhoney filled 32 jars (one was given to HRH Princess Anne in October2010). The honey was sold within 24 hours to staff with the moneybeing put back into the gardens for regeneration.

THE FUTUREFuture plans are to sow a wild meadow in an L shape which will be onthe edge of the wildlife area and develop the new Reflection Gardenwhich is situated at the back of the chapel and laundry.

The garden is designed with a figure of 8 pathway with a crossroads whichrepresents the different choices we have in life. There will be a streamconstructed out of blue slate under a wooden bridge, and a train stationrepresenting your journey through life's new beginnings. An egg timer withseating area will represent time to contemplate the past, present and future.There will be a quiet area where prisoners and staff who have experienced loss,can find some time to hopefully find some comfort. Planting is to be kept simpleyet thought provoking, eg rosemary for attracting curative vibrations for illness.

The work is physical andwithout a doubt assists withthe mental wellbeing ofprisoners. Growing flowers and vegetables is known as arelaxing pastime and alsoencourages team work.

The prison was granted Big Lottery –Target Wellbeing Funding in March2009. The hard work and dedication of the prisoners and staff began inpreparing the interior of the poly-tunnel. Inside was covered 3ft highwith weeds, the ground was full ofrocks, nettles and grass taking a lot ofhard manual work to clear so the soilwas ready for planting. Prisonersplanted lots of different seeds and itwas amazing to watch as everythingbegan to grow. It was hard workkeeping the weeds at bay but in thesummer of 2009, they were rewardedwith a very varied and large harvest,consisting of vegetables such as broadbeans, lettuce, green peppers, beetrootand tomatoes which flourished in thepoly-tunnel. A total of 254 chillies, 326lettuce, 331 beetroot, 2740 tomatoes,189 onions, 30 squash, 125cucumbers, are just a small sample ofthe vegetables grown, so far.

NEW POLY-TUNNELEarly in 2010 a new poly-tunnelwas erected having securedPrison Service Funding basedon the success of the GOOPproject. The new poly-tunnel ispredominately for training inhorticultural techniques,allowing for activeparticipation, by all who wishto engage in gardening.

Allotments forYoung OffendersThe young offenders have been working very hard preparing their ownallotment. They have used recycled wood, stone and tiles to makebedding plots. They have been growing flowers, chillies, peppers andaubergines to name a few. They have also been growing sunflowerswhich grew to the height of the poly-tunnels. Tomatoes were also grownin one of the poly-tunnels which the young offenders have taken extremepride in. On average there are 6 to 8 young offenders working in thegardens area at any single time.

WE ARE WINNERSThe project won the Silk FM Local Heroesaward for the project of the year (2009),second place in the Waste ManagementAwards for Excellence (2010), RichardHeys won an individual commendationin The Windlesham Trophy (2010) andGovernor Bailey and Eddie Tarry haveboth received commendations from TheButler Trust which they will receive atBuckingham Palace.

Contact

Eddie TarryGardens and RecyclingManager - HMP Styal

eddie.j.tarry@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

The landscaping for the relaxation andsensory garden began in February 2010and was completed by the summer, a lot ofhard work and effort was put into this bythe women on the GOOP project and thereare now four different features in thissection. The Garden Theme is based around‘The Sense Area’ where all the plants andflowers have different textures and a widerange of aroma, ‘The Yin & Yang Area’ isfor contemplation and there are 3 stonesthat represent the family unit, a large stonerepresenting the father, a medium stonerepresenting the mother and a small stonerepresenting the child, ‘The Clock Area’which aids numeracy and is set at thewomen's break time and ‘The Patio CircleArea’ represents the sun as the pavingradiates from the centre and it also has asun dial. The new poly-tunnel isconcentrating on growing exotic flowerssuch as lilies, which have also grown reallywell. Individual plots have been allocated tothe prisoners so they can grow andmaintain their own plots in a training

environment. The women grew baskets ofhanging flowers that were hung around thevisitors centre, around the prison groundsand some were sold to staff, again forregeneration and self sustainability. In August2010 Fred Talbot (The ITV Weather Man)came and officially opened the Reflection

RELAXATION AND SENSORY GARDEN

and Relaxation Garden. It was a fantasticturn out for the visit and a great day wasenjoyed by all. Fred was presented withsome vegetables, flowers and honey. He wasso impressed with all the hard work that heindicated he would like to come back andpresent the weather from the gardens.

Acknowledgements: A huge ‘thank you’ to the project team at HMP/YOI Styal for their progress to date and contributions to this newsletter; to all partners in supporting the development of projects and also to Groundwork Northwest, Big Lottery, Mark Dooris and Sandra Brookes for ongoing support.