Locked up in lockdown

Source: SVP

It's all too easy to forget about people who are hidden out of sight. With so much anxiety surrounding Covid-19, the welfare of prisoners is effectively lost among the slow demise of the high street, the UK economy's fall into recession, and the rising tide of casualties of the pandemic.

According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, during the pandemic prisoners have been confined "consistent with, or very close to, international definitions of solitary confinement (22 hours or more alone each day)."

Other measures introduced to protect them include cancelling visits and closing educational and recreational areas. The impact of these conditions has been damaging, with boredom and loneliness exacerbating existing mental and physical health challenges of prisoners. For some, being confined to the same room for 22 hours a day has adversely affected their mobility, particularly for those of advancing age.

For others, issues of addiction and mental ill-health have been made worse in isolation, with a lack of visiting adding to challenges that in some cases have led to self-harm. This is particularly concerning in the light of Prison Reform Trust figures which suggest suicide rates in among prisoners are 10 times higher than the general population.

Before coronavirus, members of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) befriended prisoners and their families through regular visits. Now, as in their other work, they have adapted their approach. In Lancashire, the SVP's decision to purchase hand-held DVD players at around £20 each was deemed a huge success for prisoners they support, with one SVP member donating over 300 DVDs to put them to good use. The DVDs were well received by the prison chaplain at HMP Hindley, and had a transformative impact for one inmate, who sadly "only had weeks to live".

Other regions have responded in different ways, with some SVP members receiving requests from prisoners for cheap reading glasses in order to read books from prison libraries. Where there have been no books available, the SVP has sent copies to prisoners to keep them occupied. In other areas, SVP members have even created and printed word searches and puzzle sheets for those struggling with the isolation.

According to John O'Sullivan, an SVP member in Chester, the prospect of no visits has been particularly hard on those prisoners without family. John believes that "when somebody knows that another human being is interested, it helps enormously."

John and other SVP members have recorded video messages for the people they work with at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, which he and others visit regularly. John collates the MP4 files and sends them through to prisoners via the staff to be played on the prison television system. The videos contain a mixture of goodwill messages, songs and readings to accompany activity packs sent by members, containing purpose-made rosary beads for the prisoners.

St Vincent de Paul was once a prisoner. So too was Christ. Today, prisoners are still among the most forgotten and demonised people in society.

It would also be wrong to assume it is only prisoners who are badly affected in prisons during the pandemic. Prison offers and prison staff are also working under intense pressure, with the threat of infection an ever-present risk.

Tony, an SVP member, who has visited in prisons, says: "When I first came to meet the prisoners it completely opened my eyes - the humanity of the people inside. It is very easy to demonise them, but it showed me the SVP has made a huge difference to them. I had to re-examine the way I felt, and it took time. Now I see them as friends. And isn't friendship what the SVP is really about?"

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it must be that life is precious, and that Covid-19 has created a type of 'prison' for us all.

For more information or to donate to the SVP, go to www.svp.org.uk.

@SVPEnglandWales or telephone 020 7703 3030.