SFIO and Club 10 Catch-up: 791 days later, SFIO prison visits are back!
Thanks to the easing of restrictions this year, the Stronger Families Inside Out programme and Club 10 initiative has slowly but surely been returning to normality, providing a vital service for youngsters who are affected by family imprisonment.
Originally established in 2017 in partnership with Families Outside, the programme was accustomed to weekly visits to HMP & YOI Grampian as well as at least one weekend per month.
Club 10 operated alongside this and provided a monthly activity session in the North-East area for the families, offering some fun for the children and some respite for their parents or guardians while also helping to form a small family of friends.
Understandable restrictions and a change in priorities meant that in-person prison visits for SFIO have been halted since March 2020 while Club 10 sessions went virtual, creating an online community and something different to break up the regular lockdown routine.
In July last year Club 10 hosted their first in-person session since the pandemic started by putting on fun outside activities in Duthie Park in Aberdeen. Since then, there have been visits to Hazlehead’s Foot Golf course; the new Aberdeen Science Centre; bouldering and basketball at RGU Sport; ice skating at the Lynx Arena; plus of course the annual Christmas visit from Santa, with thanks to Northsound’s Cash for Kids appeal for their support.
It’s now, finally, time for the long-awaited return to HMP & YOI Grampian with the first SFIO visit scheduled next Wednesday (May 18) from 14:00 – 15:30 and weekly from thereon in. These visits give young people the opportunity to experience positive, enjoyable and comfortable interactions with their loved ones who are in prison through sport and other creative activities.
The next Club 10 has also been confirmed and will take place on May 31 on Robert Gordon University campus with Movement Evolution hosting a fun obstacle type course for young attendees and their families.
During the early part of the year, Lauren, a Denis Law Legacy Trust placement student, created a fantastic video which highlights the good that these programmes bring to those involved as well as a new poster to signpost potential participants to the initiative.
Stronger Families Inside Out is funded by BBC’s Children in Need and receives an abundance of support from Central Coaches in Aberdeen plus partnership with Action for Children and the Scottish Prison Service.
To learn more please do watch the video available on this webpage, follow Denis Law Legacy Trust on social media or get in touch with Streetsport Outreach Development Officer Kiana Coutts who leads the programme.
