All Chained Up
Awaiting Release
Collared by Officer Kim Williams
Freedom
On
announcing my intention of going to prison to raise funds for charity, comments
varied from ‘So, they’ve caught you at last!’ to, ‘How much do we have to pay
to get them to keep you in?’
For those who
have known me for any length of time such comments are hardly surprising. To
tell the truth, I was ‘nominated’ by a friend and sentenced to 24 hours in
Shepton Mallett prison for harassing her to go to pub quizzes. I can understand
this; people either love or loathe quizzes.
The charity in
question, SOS Africa, is a small charity, based in Shepton Mallett, set up in
2002 by a young man, Dr. Matt Crowcombe, after he saw first-hand the
deprivation experienced by children in South Africa, and the negative impact
this had on their life chances.
In order to be
eligible to spend 24 hours locked up, those of us nominated were required to
raise a minimum of £240 each, all of which goes towards providing educational
support for a small group of children; this includes uniform, books, tuition,
after care clubs with a hot meal, transport and family support, until the child
reaches the age of 18, and is then eligible for government funding to go on to
further education.
What really
impressed me is that, unlike other charities, all of the monies raised go
towards the project, with donations of equipment and other resources actively
sought. Any salaries come out of the gift aid claimed on donations.
I am always up
for doing something different so I really looked forward to the challenge, if
for no other reason than that the prospect of 24 hours locked in a prison cell,
with no-one able to communicate with me, seemed really appealing.
Surprisingly, we
spent very little time in our cells.
Expecting meagre
rations, I dashed off to ‘The Hive’ for a slap up cooked breakfast, one of the
best I have ever had. After donning our orange boiler suits, my group of 15
were chained up and marched through the town, in silence, to the beat of a
drum. Our Head Prison Officer Kim Williams, had in fact been an officer at the
prison before its closure 2 years ago.
I was in Cell 6
of C block. The regime was not as harsh as I had been expecting, although I did
find a number of things unsettling, principally that we lacked any control over
our movements, completely at the mercy of others; not something I am at all
comfortable with.
Our cells, which
thankfully were single ones, were in a very poor state of repair. There was a
toilet and wash basin, but neither were plumbed in, and there was electricity
only in the communal areas. I did not mind using the portaloos, but I did mind
that we had no freedom to visit when we wanted to, and that it was 47 steps to
get up and down from my cell; by the end of my incarceration my knees were
killing me! Furnishings consisted of an iron bed, and nothing else. Although I
had brought a camping mattress, I found that sleeping directly on the iron bars
was actually much more comfortable. Our list of permissible items meant that I
had left the house with no keys, no phone, no identity; altogether a very
unsettling experience.
The other aspect
of being ‘locked up’ I found disconcerting was that we had no idea of the time.
When we were shut up in our cells we had no idea how long it would be for, and
when we were marched out we had no idea where we were going or what we would be
doing.
Thankfully we
were fed, and the majority of the time we spent in prison was taken up with a
range of organised activities, including sewing pencil cases for the children,
and learning their national anthem in Afrikaans during a singing lesson.
The following
morning I did not so much mind being woken at 6am by what sounded like a fog
horn, but I cannot say that I enjoyed the hour in the gym that followed it.
Was it a worthwhile cause? Undoubtedly. Would I do it again? Like a shot
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