Chelsea garden to bring nature into prison for female offenders
A garden to be showcased at the Chelsea Flower Show will be relocated to HMP Downview to aid the rehabilitation of female offenders.
Jo Thompson, who worked with female ex-offenders assisted by the Glasshouse, a rehabilitation not-for-profit centred around horticulture, said the garden is designed to be 'safe and private' and give a green space to women who are often 'deprived' of nature.
The garden will be unveiled at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 19 and then re-created at HMP Downview, a women-only prison in Surrey, as soon as the show finishes.
The final design cost £1 million and was funded by Project Giving Back, a charity that supports gardens for good causes at Chelsea Flower Show.
Thompson said she changed her approach to the garden after meeting with the women in prison who worked on the project. 'It's easy to have preconceptions about people in prison,' she said. 'I tore up my notes, started again and instead I focused on what [the women] had said about privacy.
'Shining a torch in your face at four o'clock in the morning, or constant noise all night … I realised that they needed to have somewhere private. They needed to have somewhere that felt beautiful, because they were deprived of any link with nature at all, and somewhere where they could garden if they wanted to.'
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The design took approximately two years to complete, and female offenders are expected to be able to access the garden from July this year.
The Glasshouse, which worked with Thompson on the project, is a social enterprise that trains women to grow house plants, which are sold online and also installed and maintained in corporate offices.
The Times Crime and Justice Commission, which published its final report last month, recommended better provision of rehabilitation initiatives like the training and work opportunities provided by the Glasshouse.
Kali Hamerton-Stove, co-founder of the Glasshouse, said that the garden symbolised 'a real push' towards rehabilitation among the public. 'I think people are starting to see there needs to be a change in the way that we address [the prison] population,' she said. 'And so it's so exciting for us to be a part of that and for the women that we work with to get to be a part of that.
'When you speak with the women we work with, almost all of them will talk about a lack of access to nature and lack of access to fulfilling activity when they're in prison. A lot of them don't realise it until they're with us, but when their hands are in soil, they feel calmer, more productive and happier.'
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'Nature and growing is incredibly powerful. Gardening has the potential to help people have better lives, and that can cut reoffending.'
Amy Dixon, governor of both HMP Downview and HMP East Sutton Park, said: 'The Glasshouse garden will make a massive impact for the women in custody at HMP & YOI [Young Offender Institution] Downview, and for our hardworking staff.
'Women preparing for release will have regular access to the garden for planning their future and meeting their resettlement team, as well as training and support. This special garden will provide inspiration and hope for women in an anxious and overwhelming time.'
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