Welcome to our Patchwork and Quilting Class at Wandsworth Prison. It is held in a classroom on one of the wings of the prison, built 150 years ago. The wing is reached by going through a series of drab courtyards and locked gates. Now that I have keys, just like any prison officer, the access to the wing is relatively straightforward. I recall in the early days waiting patiently at the gate of the prison for one of the prison officers from the wing to come and collect me. The tedium of waiting is only relieved by watching life at the prison gate.

The 12 men in my group meet in the room, which is small and only just big enough to accommodate us all. We meet regularly, once a week on a Tuesday evening, for about an hour or one and half hours if we are lucky, depending on the prison timetable. We now have quite reasonably sized tables in the room, which is brightly lit, unlike the poorly lit cells where the men do most of their stitching. We also have been given a locked cupboard in the room to keep 7 pairs of scissors which hang on a shadow board. Each pair of scissors has its outline traced on the board so that it exactly matches the scissors and each pair of scissors has to be marked with a special number. Security, rightly, is very important in prison and scissors are never allowed to leave the room; this means that all cutting out has to be done in class. All other equipment needed, apart from an iron and board which is stored in the prison office, is brought in each week by myself and my colleague Ginny Stobart who now helps to run the group.

A typical evening begins with men drifting into the room as they are unlocked, which is not always a smooth process; although there is a list of class members available for the unlocking officer, sometimes a class member gets forgotten or has moved cells. The list is now kept up to date by one of the long serving and trusted class members; he acts as a co-ordinator for the class, a responsibility he takes seriously.

The men arrive with their work and their folders, which are supplied when they join the class. The folder contains very basic equipment: reel of cotton, pencil, 6 inch quilt ruler, some pins, 2 needles, cardboard for templates and sand paper (the latter helps to secure the fabric when drawing round the templates ready for cutting out). The stitchers' latest projects are discussed individually. The week's work is recorded in a notebook by the stitcher, usually before the class; this is a useful exercise as it helps with literacy skills, if that is a problem, and also, the act of writing down what has been achieved acts as a booster to self-esteem. The work recorded is then signed by the tutors, which gives us a chance to write positive and encouraging remarks or make suggestions as to how a technique could be improved. New work is then handed out and small amounts of fabric are generally given to the men, pre-washed and ironed, with a worksheet with diagrams for the project. The men are encouraged to make their own templates and give suggestions on colour-choice or construction. As time is limited the fabric is sometimes pre-cut. Often a made-up sample of a quilt block is given to help them see what they are supposed to achieve.

There is never enough time to discuss as much as we would like. As in any adult education class, however, we do endeavour to give opportunities for sharing and co-operation between class members and encourage those who have learned a particular skill to teach their classmates. Generally, the men like to complete a piece of work on their own but some are happy to co-operate, particularly if the project is a large commission. It often happens that one man will develop a particular aptitude for a process and then he will take over that part of the project.