A Time of Joy?

“Merry Christmas”, “Happy Christmas”, “Joy to the World!”  It is a time of year when we expect and hope to feel joyful. A time of laughter and fun as we meet with loved ones, exchange gifts and fill up on festive food.

There is much to be joyful about but it can often feel short-lived or leave us feeling deflated, as reality doesn’t always match up with our expectations.

But imagine how much harder it must be to feel joyful when in prison. You are away from your family, perhaps dealing with the guilt of past actions and kept in poor conditions, sometimes for many years or even a lifetime.

At Integritas, we believe that Jesus Christ and his offer of forgiveness and hope can bring joy to even the deepest, darkest prison cell on earth. It is a joy that does not depend on external circumstances.

Through our work, we hope to show every prisoner that regardless of their past, they matter and they have value. They do have a reason to be joyful.

If you would like to support us in this work, please click here to donate.

We hope that whatever circumstances you find yourself in this year, you too may know this joy this Christmas season.

A Time of Peace?

I wonder what peace looks like to you in your life. For some of us we enjoy moments of solitude in a quiet place, tucked up with a book, for others they relish the thought of being surrounded by loved ones amidst the joyful chaos of a busy Christmas-time house.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists one definition of the word peace as “freedom from anxiety, disturbance (emotional, mental, or spiritual), or inner conflict; calm, tranquillity.” However we may picture peace, it is safe to say we all long for that emotional peace described.

For the millions of people who will spend this Christmas in prison, it is unlikely they will experience any form of peace. Prisons across the world suffer from extreme overcrowding. Prisoners are often packed into spaces where the number of people far exceeds the designed capacity. This leads to poor physical health as infectious diseases can easily spread from one person to the next. The lack of personal space will lead to worsening mental health and increasing violent behaviour.

Whilst there may be valid reasons for people to be in prison, it does not justify the unsuitable conditions that currently exist.

Integritas comes face to face with the issue of overcrowded prisons and the harm this can inflict. It is vitally important that prisoners receive high quality healthcare to prevent further spread of diseases within the prison population.

As we look ahead to everything we enjoy about Christmas, let us remember those who are without peace or comfort.

If you feel able to donate, any amount will have a huge impact on the support Integritas is able to provide to prisoners

 Click here to donate

A Time of Hope?

We all need something to give us hope. That might be the thought of a weekend lie-in to get you through the week, a successful career to provide a comfortable retirement or maybe the hope that there is a purpose and meaning to life, which you just haven’t found yet.

For many prisoners around the world there is nothing to give them any hope. They are locked away and forgotten by society. Integritas carries out a large proportion of its humanitarian and medical work within prisons and police stations in the Philippines.  A problem faced by prisoners worldwide is that of pre-trial detention and delayed sentencing. In the Philippines 75% of the prison population has not been sentenced. On average prisoners are detained for 9 months before they receive a sentence.  This leads to overcrowding of jails, making conditions even more unbearable. Prisoners may serve time in prison that far outweighs their crime. Individuals are subjected to terrible conditions with no hope of knowing when they will be released.

Integritas currently provides healthcare to detainees in the Philippines primarily by telemedicine clinics. Our team on the ground visits the prisons and co-ordinates video consultations between prisoners and our team of doctors. We are able to offer a glimmer of hope to these prisoners as we care for their medical needs and treat them with compassion and respect. This service relies on our team of both voluntary and paid staff. We also rely on funds to provide medical supplies to the prisoners, as many cannot afford to buy their own medication.

As we look ahead to Christmas, a time that offers a message of hope, we greatly require your support to continue our work. If you feel you could offer your time and skills then please get in touch. Financial donations of any amount would go a long way to provide medical care to those trapped in a hopeless system. Please join us in bringing hope this Christmas.

 Click here to donate

A Time of Plenty?

What do you think about at this time of year? Perhaps the long lists of gifts you need to buy, organising the family get together or just hunkering down and avoiding the madness.

For Christians, Christmas is when we celebrate the person of Jesus Christ coming into our world. He came and was willing to get stuck in with the painful mess of humanity. Jesus loved the unlovable. Regardless of somebody’s past He said I can help.

At Integritas, we are motivated by Jesus’ love and His example to treat our neighbour as ourselves.  We have a particular concern for the 11 million of our fellow human beings currently behind bars across the world. Many of these people are kept in terrible conditions, without adequate food or healthcare and do not know when they will next see their loved ones. Regardless of their past actions, we believe they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Like many other charities, the pandemic has taken its toll on Integritas. We have lost many of our main sources of funding and this has directly impacted the work we are able to carry out. This festive season we are asking you to help us help those most in need across our world. Any donation will go a long way to provide healthcare to vulnerable men and women behind bars.

So perhaps this year, as it is for me, will be the first year you think about the world’s detainees, those forgotten and abandoned in unthinkable conditions. There is a great need and we can work together to show radical love to one another.

If you would like more details on partnering with Integritas please do get in touch. Any donation would be gratefully received and would make a huge impact on the work we are able to do.

Click here to donate.

Price of Pandemic on Prisoners

A startling report was published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons on February 11th 2021 about the effects of restrictions imposed on prisoners in England since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prisoners have had to spend 22 hours in a cell every day and have been unable to attend work, education, rehabilitation interventions or gyms, in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. Visits from relatives and friends have also been suspended or highly restricted.

Saving lives

When the first lockdown was implemented back in March 2020, radical changes had to be made within the prison system as it was estimated that 2,000 prisoners could die from COVID-19. To an extent the measures have worked: the numbers of deaths has remained low thanks to the precautions.

The prisoners, made aware of the restrictions in the community, not only understood the necessity of prison lockdowns but also felt largely safe from the virus. As time has stretched on though, their mental strength to endure their restrictions has worn thin. Many desire the resumption of activities to make their lives meaningful again.

Price paid

The lasting psychological, physical and emotional impacts are already starting to show, with prisoners reporting an increase in self-harming behaviours, drug misuse, and deterioration in physical and mental health.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, commented

‘The cumulative effect of such prolonged and severe restrictions on prisoners’ mental health and well-being is profound. The lack of support to reduce reoffending and help prisoners address their risk of serious harm to the public does not fill me with hope for the longer term […] Locking prisoners up in prolonged isolation has never been a feature of a healthy prison.’

The conditions many are faced with are not those you would wish upon anyone: eating meals in the same room as an unlidded toilet, inadequate ventilation, and often sitting alongside a cellmate. Those housed in single cells may not have the difficulty of being cramped in with another, but instead suffer the psychological impact of isolation and loneliness. These descriptions sounds more like those found in the detention centres of a low or middle income country, not the United Kingdom.

When allowed out of their cells for the daily activities of showering and exercise, there is a strict time limit. Many are frustrated that they don’t have long enough to complete these tasks.

Although the report does state that inter-prisoner violence has decreased, due to the reduction in face-to-face contact between prisoners, bullying and intimidation have increased.

And many prisoners have remarked on how underprepared they are for release into the outside world; without access to rehabilitation programmes or meaningful work, their chance of re-offending is far higher.

The solution?

The introduction of video calling and in-cell telephones have allowed some prisoners to remain in contact with their support networks. This may even be a post-pandemic solution for many isolated prisoners of the future.

The end of January saw eligible prisoners in England being offered vaccines, in line with the community rollout. This sparked some public debate as elderly & certain ill offenders will now be receiving vaccination before their (perhaps younger or fitter) victims in the community. That said, prisoners are not the only ones at risk within the prison system: prison staff are at risk and their representative bodies feel that both they and their prisoners should be higher up the vaccination queue.

Whilst individuals may disagree as to who should go to the top of the queue, there is common ground in the knowledge that we cannot fight this virus whilst fighting each other. We must act as a team to stop the spread and save lives.

The future

The longer-term impact of the restrictions imposed on prisoners is yet to fully come to light. However, this report has shown that - unless we act soon - many offenders are at risk of serious mental and physical deterioration. It is too soon to lift the restrictions without putting thousands of lives at risk. So, in order to emerge from this pandemic safely, we must look to vaccination as the way forward - in prisons as in the community.