26 Mar 2020
The team at Safe Ground are extremely saddened by the circumstances affecting the world and in particular, the ways in which so many people are being exposed to increasingly severe hardships and vulnerabilities as a result of global policies and long standing fiscal, social and commercial practices. Whilst so much of the world as we […] … more »
06 Nov 2018 by Keisha Bhamra
At Safe Ground, we believe our collective work across the social justice sector is that serious. We believe our support, care, therapeutic input, challenge, principles, ethics, relationships of trust and creative approaches to intractable problems, actually do make the difference between life and death for very many people. We also believe that our collective work […] … more »
22 Aug 2018
Safe Ground participants at HMP Lewes created a ‘Clink Speak’ dictionary, which was designed to help men in the first night centre gain an understanding of the language used within the prison. … more »
21 Aug 2018
Our Executive Director Charlie Weinberg has written a chapter with Obinna Nwosu in the book ‘Thinking Home – Interdisciplinary Dialogues’. The chapter is entitled ‘Domestic Dislocation – When Home is Not So Sweet.’ It explores the meaning of the concept Domestic Dislocation. It notes the difficulties that many people in prison face, and what it […] … more »
25 Jun 2018
James Noble, Impact Management Lead in Measurement and Evaluation for New Philanthropy Capital, has written a piece marking five years of the Justice Data Lab. Through the Justice Data Lab, data on re-offending rates for service users can be compared to a statistically matched control group, to evidence the impact of the organisation. Noble highlighted […] … more »
10 May 2018
We are delighted to announce our partnership with CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably. CALM are an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide. We hope that this partnership will challenge and diversify conversations around masculinity to create a culture that enables men to seek support when they need it. Read the article that looks at how to support men in prison. To […] … more »
02 May 2018
Safe Ground’s Man Up programme has been evaluated by Dr Nicholas Blagden and Christian Perrin (2017) in a mixed-method study. This aimed to explore young offenders’ perceptions of the programme and whether the programme contributed to any personal change or development, and what core learning they took from the course. This paper has been published in […] … more »
07 Mar 2018
The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) is a large group of interested parties all working together to inform, improve and challenge education policy for prisons and people in them. Safe Ground is an original member of the PLA. The Alliance has recently undergone a complete review of all its processes and have recruited an external Chair, […] … more »
16 Jan 2018
HMP Parc in Wales are in the process of expanding their scheme whereby inmates can keep track of their children’s progress in school, helping the maintenance of family relationships. Following this news, The Guardian asked their readers about their experiences of having family members in prison. In a recent article, these readers discuss how they […] … more »
12 Dec 2017
Arts education charity ‘Safe Ground’ is awarded The Longford Prize “humanity, courage, persistence and originality”. Safe Ground is a small team with a national reach, working in secure training centres, young offenders institutions, social emotional and mental health schools, and high security and open prisons. Executive Director Charlie Weinberg says the prize “is a tribute […] … 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.
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