09 Dec 2020
In early 2020 Healthy London Partnership in collaboration with Arts Council England and the Mayor of London called for proposals from arts and cultural organisations to work with them to help improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health issues in the borough of Merton. Safe Ground’s response was The Comfort Zone, a therapeutic […] … more »
24 Jun 2020
A group of 8 children in a secure children’s home have been able to challenge and change policy direction as a result of an advisor’s willingness to listen, engage and take into consideration their views and experience. Whilst we don’t believe such changes should rest on individual approaches, lucky meetings or personalities, we are really […] … more »
04 Jun 2020
We have created a short story for you to share with your family and loved ones, it is a useful template for creating your own adventures and a great source for starting a conversation in these difficult times. Click HERE to download … more »
07 Apr 2020
Safe Ground has published a new report investigating how recent policy changes have impacted small criminal justice charities with the help of Braganca Law LLC. The current situation is highlighting, more than ever, fundamental issues within the prison estate and many are calling for penal reform. Safe Ground’s critical analysis of prison education, therefore, comes […] … more »
29 Oct 2019
On 8th October 2019 we hosted an event at The Roundhouse titled ‘The Price of Punishment’. It was an evening full of immersive performances and thought-provoking discussion about how we interpret punishment. The purpose of this event was to explore what punishment means to us in society and what the physical, emotional and psychological effect […] … more »
13 Sep 2019
The CJA Members meeting, held at the Foundry, highlighted the issues that persist regarding scrutiny and accountability in the criminal justice system and reassured the audience with the steps that are being made to pave a way forward in this realm. Sue McAllister, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) and Jo Farrar, Chief Executive of […] … more »
26 Feb 2019
Denali Tiller’s Tre Maison Dasan reimagines the archetypal documentary model, by relinquishing the power of direction to its subjects, 13 year old Tre, 11 year old Maison, and six year old Dasan. After all, these three young boys consistently prove that age is just a number, thus it would seem unjust to present it in any other way. The film exposes the crushing statistic that 1 in 14 children in the US have current or previous experience of a parent […] … more »
06 Nov 2018
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 »
16 Oct 2018
On 27th September 2018 we hosted A Matter of Life and Death in the intimate Sackler Space at the Roundhouse. We invited over 120 guests to join us for an afternoon full of debate, discussion, emotion and performances. The afternoon started off with a performance from spoken word artist Lady Unchained, who set the tone […] … more »
07 Aug 2018
A recent article in The Guardian states that we need to offer women support instead of prison, a viewpoint that Safe Ground is very much on board with. The article entitled ‘Police ‘need to offer female offenders support not prison’’ is based on a London assembly report that stated women’s crimes are often linked to […] … 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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