Polmont to Perth

Today I visited Polmont Young Offenders Institute. I was reflecting with someone that the first time I was in Polmont must have been in the late 1960s . I remember going to play there with the Living Stones. Today I was invited to speak at the opening of the Multi-Faith Space. This is a space in the jail which traditionally would have been called the Chapel but now in an attempt to be inclusive it is known by the above name. After spending sometime with the boys Donald Scott the prison chaplain invited me to take part in an interview for the Polmont internal radio station. The next port of call was up to Perth to take part in what must be one of the first live webcast from a Scottish prison. The webcast took the form of a Question Time which was hosted by Isobel Fraser the BBC anchor person for the radio programme Scotland Today, other panelists were Marina Shaw of Circle. this is an organisation that seeks to support the family members who are left without a major breadwinner due to imprisonment. Another of the panelists for Daily Express Report Graham Grant. In all it was an excellent evening. One of the outcomes is that I proposed to meet with those who want to get involved in helping to create what I called "Communities of Grace" based around parish churches that exist in areas where many of the prison population live. The idea seemed to be well received. So in the next couple of months I hope to put together a steering group that may be interested to putting together a programme that could beĀ adopted by churches the length and breadth of the country to help prisoners integrate be their own communities.
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