Julia Hickson
Wormwood Scrubs Prison Sleepover 2007
Fundraising for Cancer Research UK
Story
Prison Diary
The Thamesmead Three spent Saturday night in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, along with 21 other 'jail birds' to raise money for Cancer Research UK. It was fun, scary...definitely an experience!
Before being ushered to the gym, we were told not to look up, not to talk and to walk as fast as we could so not to bring attention to ourselves, but of course some prisoners spotted us and started shouting (remember there is more than 1200 male inmates and there were 24 of us walking under their windows - 19 of which were women! One inmate even shouted out his mobile number!)
When we arrived at the gym hall, we were made to form an orderly queue before shouting out our number in line. For every person who got it wrong or didn't shout loud enough, we were told to do press ups.
We were then ordered to jog around the gym hall, before collecting our 'prison package', which consisted of a cup, cutlery and prison uniform (grey jogging bottoms and a jumper) before playing a ball game and eating a typical prison dinner of rice and chilli, an apple and a dessert.
At around 9pm when all the inmates were locked up, we were taken on a tour of the prison. We walked along all the wings and were also shown a strip cell. It was tiny - there is no room to swing a cat and yet it is the same size as a normal prison cell which consists of bunk beds, a table, a chest of draws and two inmates!
Although prisoners are in there for a reason, the sheer claustrophobia of it all really made us wonder how they survive.
'The Thamesmead Three' have raised more than £1000 for Cancer Research UK, the 24 of us who took part in the sleepover have so far managed to raise just under £10,000, which is fantastic, but we would still love to raise more.
Thank you to all those who have already donated. If you haven't yet , you are at the right place to do so. Remember, every penny, every pound counts!
Please tell all your family, friends and colleagues about this page.
Together we will beat Cancer.
From
June, Julia and Linda - The Thamesmead Three (Trust Thamesmead employees)
You can view more pictures at: http://www.trust-thamesmead.co.uk/gallery.cfm/category/36/category_name/The%20Thamesmead%20Three
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