After a break in delivery, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Year 9 pupils at Woodham Academy and Greenfield Secondary School welcomed back the team of volunteers from Prison! Me! No-Way! for the delivery of their Crime and Safety Awareness Days, funded by Great Aycliffe and Middridge Partnership’s (GAMP) Area Budget funding.
Originally set up by prison officers, Prison! Me! No-Way! is a national charity which aims to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of becoming involved in antisocial or criminal behaviour.
The Crime and Safety Awareness Days are delivered by qualified and experienced professionals through a number of hard-hitting, factual and engaging presentations, workshops, dramas and role-playing activities, which encourage pupils to make positive decisions and to stay safe. Woodham Academy pupils attended a number of workshops throughout the day, these included:
Prison Life – delivered by long-serving prison officers, this session covers the realities of prison life and the general impact of the loss of freedom of choice. Pupils were given the chance to visit a life size replica and fully furnished prison cell to get a real feel for an inmate’s living conditions.
Street Scene – through a role-playing activity on ‘Confrontation Street’ pupils looked specifically at the impacts of antisocial behaviour.
Choices and Consequences – pupils met with serving and ex-prisoners (now employed by PMNW) explaining to the pupils how and why they ended up in custody. Pupils heard a first-hand account of being locked in a prison cell, the lack of freedom and the impact a prison sentence can have on family and friends.
During the sessions pupils are taken from their normal daily school routine and treated like offenders to ensure maximum realism.
A Crime and Safety Awareness Day was also delivered in April at Greenfield School, thanks to GAMP funding and along with Woodham Academy the project engaged with over 300 pupils across both schools.
John Palmer, Ambassador for Prison Me! No Way! said: “The core aim of Crime and Safety Awareness Days is to enhance the understanding among young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime. The workshops assist in redressing the exaggerated, and often incorrect, images of prison life portrayed through television and the media, and any myths or misconceptions young people may have. These sessions encourage participants to respect the value of their freedom whilst experiencing the restrictive regimes of a real day in the life of an offender.”