15 Dec 2015
On Wednesday 2nd December, an event celebrating the work undertaken on the Pilot Parenting Programme, Father Figures, at HMYOI Brinsford was held at Staffordshire University. Father Figures is a unique and progressive thinking parenting programme funded by National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Young Fathers are encouraged by an experienced facilitator to consider their relationships with […] … more »
25 Nov 2015
Between Monday 9th and Friday 13th November, Our Own Stories was piloted at HMP Low Newton. The delivery team were Kate McCoy from Safe Ground and Sarah Hartley from Novus who have commissioned the programme. They were also joined by Sarah Moat, a tutor from the education department in the prison. The team worked with nine women, nearly all who were serving very short prison […] … more »
26 Oct 2015
Women’s Programme Development Coordinator, Kate McCoy, has recently written a guest blog post for the National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice. The blog post focuses on Kate’s experience of consulting and running creative personal development sessions with women in prison at HMPs East Sutton Park, Holloway, Low Newton, Send and Styal. The post describes […] … more »
22 Jan 2015
It has been widely acknowledged that there is a wide difference between what political parties say and what voters think those parties will do in office. In Matthew Taylor’s new post he outlines a new approach to political debate in order to tackle this topic. Read more here. … more »
29 Oct 2014
I was lucky enough to recently participate in a poetry workshop as part of Safe Ground’s GROUNDation Poetry Project. Sara Hirsh led a group of older adults through a truly inspiring poetry and spoken word workshop at the Katherine Low Settlement (KLS) in Battersea. One of my initial reasons for wanting to attend this specific […] … more »
07 Apr 2014
I am worried. I am worried about what is happening to Education, both in schools and in prisons. … more »
24 Feb 2014
With the next Fathers Inside training at Newbold approaching in March and with an increasingly aware two year old daughter at home, I have started to feel guilty about leaving her for the five days (four nights) I will be away from home. When I first started delivering the training when I returned from maternity […] … more »
10 Dec 2012
An update from Sally Plumb on how filming ‘The View’ is coming along. This film was written by men at Wandsworth prison taking part in a creative writing course as part of our ‘Transitions’ programme and is now being filmed out in the community. Day three: The Youths Yet another early start but this time the weather is great, […] … more »
03 Dec 2012
An update from Sally Plumb on how filming ‘The View’ is coming along. This film was written by men at Wandsworth prison taking part in a creative writing course as part of our ‘Transitions’ programme and is now being filmed out in the community. Keep an eye on our events page for our screenings in January! Day two Another early […] … more »
30 Nov 2012
An update from Sally Plumb on how filming ‘The View’ is coming along. This film was written by men at Wandsworth prison taking part in a creative writing course as part of our ‘Transitions’ programme and is now being filmed out in the community. Day One – Interior cafe scene A bright and early start […] … more »
Safe Ground is founded by Antonia Rubinstein and Polly Freeman in 1993, then established as a charity in 1995.
Men in prison at HMP Woodhill create a drugs prevention video ‘Ryan’s Choice’ for year 6 school children (1997/98)
‘Parents for the 21st Century’ collaboration with the prison service begins in 1999. This helps absent fathers, whom are in prison, learn how they can improve their parenting skills for children aged 6 to 12.
Film ‘Blinda’ is created by men in prison at HMP Wandsworth – the story concerns Frank, who is serving a 3-year sentence and has cut off all communication with his 8-year-old son Wayne.
‘Blinda’ wins an International Visual Communication Award in 2001.
Family Man launches at HMP Wandsworth in early 2003.
Family Man and Fathers Inside are firmly established, raising the profile of parenting and family relationships in prisons.
Safe Ground train Prison Officers at HMP Wandsworth to deliver Family Man.
The revised Family Man programme has been successfully trialled in 6 establishments.
Safe Ground are shortlisted for The Centre for Social Justice Awards.
Safe Ground train members of the Belgian Prison Service in using the arts to engage hard to reach learners
Creating Community Archives project begins at HMYOI Deerbolt, using archive materials to engage young men in prison in a dialogue with World War 2 veterans
Common Ground project begins, aiming to engage school children, older adults and people in prison in a creative dialogue
Transitions project takes place at HMP Wandsworth in October 2012
The project was a creative outlet, which produced short stories and film scripts, as well as film ‘The View’
Safe Ground on the Run raises £20,000!
New programmes in development include Man Up and Officers’ Mess
GROUNDation, Safe Ground’s first ever spoken word and poetry evening takes place at the LOST Theatre, Wandsworth
Safe Ground creates programme ‘The Cay’ and delivers rehabilitative culture training to the staff at HMP Balsam Ghut in the British Virgin Islands
A Justice Data Lab analysis finds that the one year proven reoffending rate for participants on the Family Man programme was 32%, compared to 39% for a matched control group of similar offenders
GROUNDation Poetry project wins a Gold award at the Koestler Awards in September 2015
Women’s programme ‘Our Own Stories’, a creative personal development programme for women, is piloted at HMP Styal, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Askham Grange and HMP Low Newton
Safe Ground turns 21! An Open House event is held for the public to learn more about the organisation’s history
‘MOVING. HOME.’ Symposium is held at the National Theatre, exploring the meaning of ‘home’ with a range of panellists, including Safe Ground alumni and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
A Justice Data Lab analysis finds that Fathers Inside participants are 40% less likely to re-offend than their counterparts.
Safe Ground win the Longford Prize for contribution to penal reform
Officers’ Mess is delivered at HMP Berwyn, with 86% of participants agreeing that the course made them think about how they respond in different situations
The Who Am I? programme in partnership with Ormiston Families’ Transforming Rehabilitation is rolled out in probation sites across the East of England.
Our Symposium ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ is held at the Roundhouse. We invite guests to discuss issues of punishment, prison, exclusion and harm. There are five performers, all with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
We'd love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. Send us an email,
make your specialist training requests, stay in touch, check out our YouTube channel
and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
