8th Sheppey are Locked Up - 10-10-2009
8th Sheppey are Locked Up
For the Scout Crazy Camping Competition, 8th Sheppey Scout group decided to see if we could spend the night in HMP Elmley Prison, which is part of the Sheppey Cluster. The Sheppey Cluster is the amalgamation of the three establishments Elmley, Standford Hill and Swaleside. HMP Elmley is the purpose built local prison serving all courts in the county of Kent. The prison opened in 1992 and includes a Category C unit of up to 240 prisoners, this part was build it 1997. It is the largest of the three prisons in the Sheppey Cluster.
We arrived at HMP Elmley, at about 5 o’clock and all of our bags were run thought the x-ray machine to make sure we weren’t carrying something we shouldn’t have been. Then we went through the gate which lead us into the prison. We walked across the courtyard and into the visits building. This is where we would be sleeping. It was no where near the prisoners and we could have easily got out if we needed to. We dropped our bags off and were taken on a tour of the visits centre.
We were shown the closed visits rooms and the video link rooms. On the way round we were shown a stairwell that had been painted by a prisoner, who was an artist. It was the most beautiful many of us had even seen, it depicted all sorts of animals in a forest, from floor to ceiling. It was incredible. We then came back to the open visits hall where we had dinner which the prison had laid on for us which very kind but also very nice. . After that we had a talk about prison life from one of the officers who was camping with us.
Some of the scouts got to dress up in the prison wear for the different grade of prisoner. After that we had a choice of watching a film or playing cards, when that was finished we all went to bed. In the morning we were given a breakfast ration like what the prisoners may receive, which really isn’t a lot, there was a bag of cornflakes, some tea bags, some sugar and a couple of packets of jam. We were given a chance to write home, on the weekly letters that the prisoners write home on.
We packed away after breakfast and left the prison. The newspaper reporters were outside waiting to take photographs and document our stay. Then we all went home. It was a very enjoyable experience, I’m glad I was able to participate in the sleepover, and it has made me never want to be on the inside of a prison for real, and all of the scouts agreed with me.
I would like to say thank you Governor Ed Tullett for allowing the camp to go ahead, Governor Valentine for the warm welcome when we arrived, Shaun and Lee who camped over with us and gave us an insight into what a prison is actually like. I would also like to that everyone who made this camp possible.
Samantha Gebbie
Representative of 8th Sheppey Scouts.
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