Making a Difference in Prison

A month or so back, I saw an amazing example of someone giving selflessly to make a difference.

I went to see a play, put on by the prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs prison, in West London. The play was John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. It was brilliant. Very moving, and incredibly well acted, especially given the fact that none of the prisoners had acted in anything before.

It had been put together by a wonderful charity – Only Connect – which works in prisons to help prisoners find themselves in acting – and then helps them find work in the theatre or allied crafts when they leave prison. The charity workers were ex, or current actors, and the standard they had achieved after just a few months of rehearsals was fantastic.

It was even more fantastic given the fact they kept losing key actors as prisoners were moved on to other prisons because of prison overcrowding.

At the end of the performance the applause was deafening, and prolonged. When it died down, one of the prisoners made a heartfelt vote of thanks to Prison Officer Mills, one of the officers in attendance at the performance.

It transpired that a week away from the first night, when the actors were still very unsure of their lines, there was a danger of rehearsals having to stop altogether. A shortage of prison officers meant that there was no one to escort the prisoners to the rehearsal rooms, or guard them while they were there, so rehearsals would have to be terminated.

Into this crisis stepped Prison Officer Mills. He gave up a week of his annual leave to do the work, escorting them to and fro from their different wings of the prison, and looking after them while they were there.

This act of amazing generosity enabled the rehearsals to carry on, and the play to become the triumphant success it undoubtedly was.

Prison Officer Mills made a huge difference.