19/8/23.

Hello again. That’s another week done in what some people wrongly believe is like a holiday camp. I can tell you for certain that I know of no holiday camp like this. What I will do, though, is tell you what is in here. In each cell, we have a TV and a kettle and a toilet and a washbasin. There are bunk beds in most cells and most people share with another prisoner. The cell measures maybe 4.5m by 2.5m in total although that is the total size from wall to wall. So, subtracting the space for the tlilet, beds, worktop and washbasin leaves very little actual space. I can’t actually put my arms out and turn around without hitting anything. Oh, there are two chairs, too.

So it’s small; very small, and remember that there are two people sharing! There is a small window that only opens a tiny amount so the ventilation is very poor.

Generally, unless we have a job, we’re locked in our cells for 23 hours a day. Some days, we’re allowed to go to the gymn and on occasions there is recreation time (about 30 minutes) when we can socialize with other prisoners but that is pretty rare.

I don’t really want to give any more details about my articular  living conditions because I don’t want to identify myself, save to say that it is tough in here – definitely not a holiday camp. Oh, sorry, I forgot to include “exercise” – every day we can go into the yard for about 45-50 minutes of walking around in circles.

I don’t want to come across as monaing, I’m just trying to tell you what is happening. So much of life in here is unplanned and undirected. Access to education is very poor and so is access to the library. Our food is very highly processed and carb heavyt. Lots of hot dogs, pies, burgers etc. Lots of white rice and white bread. High salt, high fat, high sugar, low fibre, low vitamins and other essential nutrients and _very_ low protein.

What I think is a real shame is that there’s no assessment when people first arrive to identify needs. They don’t check literacy or numeracy to see if people need a targetted intervention and the health interview is pretty ropey. It is such a missed opportunity and is potentially dangerous – all medication is taken off us and get represcribed. However, because it takes several days to process, new sdmissions go without medication for maybe three or four days.

I mentioned programmes last week. Offender Behaviour Programmes are based on convictions but the point I made lase week was that if those convictions are not correct then, by definition, the programmed can’t address someone’s actual reality and in any case, imagine someone was correctly convicted for offending a decade ago, it seem fair to suggest that the reasons for offending may no longer exist. I have seen a lot of people go through their whole time in custody without attending any programmes at all so the question is, what is the point of prison?

More on that next week!

Take care.

TSP.