Success for our Twinning Project participants!

Twenty inmates from across HMP Bronzefield and Feltham Young Offenders Institution graduate from the government-funded programme

Launched in October 2018 and supported by the UK’s leading clubs and footballing bodies, the Twinning Project aims to support prisoners whilst in custody and on release to help prepare them to find work outside of prison and reduce the likelihood of reoffending. We are currently one of 46 Premier League and EFL football clubs that are engaged with the Twinning Project and paired with their local prisons. Through the initiative we have been working with PE officers from the Prison Service to deliver coaching, stewarding, lifestyle skills, and other employability-based qualifications to prisoners to help them prepare for release.

Over the past month, we have had twenty inmates from HMP Bronzefield and Feltham Young Offenders graduate from the course which will give them further opportunities for employment when they are released. Graham Goodden our Community Engagement Manager at the Trust has been leading on the project and praised its success stating that “It’s been an absolute pleasure working with both sets of inmates across Bronzefield and Feltham. Over the course of 12 weeks, we saw improvements in the inmates’ knowledge, confidence and attitude highlighting the benefits of the project.”.

As the inmates were graduating from the course our staff working on the project were invited into each prison to take part in exhibition football matches with both the prison staff and inmates. To mark the special occasion we also invited some of Brentford FC Women’s players and their manager, Karleigh Osbourne, to join in on the celebrations and take part in the matches.

Sophie Troth centre midfielder for the women’s team had this to say “I thought it was a really good experience and great for the inmates to be able to gain a qualification which will benefit them in the future. Most of the inmates I spoke to seemed really keen to continue coaching once they get released and I’m happy to hear that the Trust will be supporting this”.

The programme is continuing at both prisons with new sets of inmates looking to gain the qualification.