Over the course of the past few weeks I have taken genuine interest in the video and written testimony of some of those choosing to share their personal anxieties arising directly from the current Covid19 crisis. Not at all from a voyeuristic vantage point but more from a virtual reach out perspective, perhaps even searching…
Following a request from Tess Hamilton, Service Manager at Cyrenians we are delighted to share their visitor centre updates times and information for them at First Time Inside. Visitor Centre Updates: Prison Visitor Centre Contact details Opening Hours HMP Addiewell Cyrenians Tel: 07522907329 [email protected] Tuesday – Sunday 12.30pm – 4.30pm HMP Barlinnie The Croft Tel:…
What makes a concept great? A worthy question for isolation Day Three. There are so many influential factors but the first and perhaps most obvious is does it or will it add value to a market or industry sector. That may seem a rather off piste way to start this particular conversation today, on a…
Lived experience – aside from being society’s dismally constructed and unimaginative label – is a discount code. It is the box – rather ironically – prior to clicking on pay now which when filled reduces the cost of your online purchase. It is the restricted view seat at a sporting or entertainment event. It is…
I hear people refer to those in prison as being institutionalised and wonder if they ever pause to look in the mirror or reflect on their own attitude affirming surroundings whilst they offer opinions or attempt to influence outcomes. My own experience suggests to me that there tends to be two extremes of opinion relating…
Kindness is contagious and the process of sharing that contagion is so intrinsically simple it’s sad that the world is not permanently aglow with unbridled humanity. At this time of year the idea of kindness seems easier to raise because many of us associate it with Christmas and the “season of goodwill”. I like the…
The reaction to last weeks blog was fantastic, if not a little overwhelming, in a positive sense and it is perhaps a good time to step back and focus on the diary excerpts of a First Time prisoner this week and return next week with some rather exciting developmental news. Both here on Twitter and…
Part of the beauty of being new to an area of work is the enthusiastic inquisitiveness that automatically engages in your brain when you are stimulated by the environment you find yourself in. That this same thirst for knowledge would engage when experiencing trauma within HMP Hotel & Spa was not a complete surprise to…
Squaring the circle or engaging with the unholy trinity? Today represents a small milestone on the journey of First Time Inside because today feels, in many ways, like we have indeed squared a specific circle and a route map is clear to assist this modern geometer – entwined in justice conundrums – to successfully construct…
As I press forward with the new development phase of Prison Pack Scotland I must stop and say a sincere thank you to all of the people who have welcomed not only me but my ideas into the justice arena here in Scotland, without their encouragement and engagement I would never have reached the point…
