Help prisoners rebuild their lives 'one stitch at a time'.

“Fine Cell Work made me feel like I was doing something constructive and creative in a prison environment. And showed me that I am capable of learning new skills that I wouldn’t have otherwise tried. Now I love it. It brings me peace of mind.” - a FCW stitcher

Did you know that more than 40% of adult prisoners in England and Wales reoffend within one year of release?

Prison is an issue for all of us. To reduce crime, we need a focus on rehabilitation, giving prisoners the opportunity to turn their backs on crime. Not only does rehabilitation and training restore prisoners’ dignity and self-confidence, it has an impact on reoffending rates and reduces their dependence on social support and on the state. Having a job is a significant factor in getting their lives back on track. Yet, only 17% of ex-prisoners in the UK are in employment one year after release. A government research project found that reoffending was twice as high for those who do not find employment in the year after prison release. This is clearly a sign that the system isn’t working.

Rehabilitation and training for prisoners have shrunk drastically since the pandemic. Prisons are more understaffed and violent than ever before with prisoners locked in their cells for longer with nothing to do. Requests for our work from prisoners and staff alike have never been higher and the need for a more constructive and humane approach is urgent. 

We know that rehabilitation stops reoffending. With your support we can address this issue now.

“Fine Cell Work made me feel like I was doing something constructive and creative in a prison environment. And showed me that I am capable of learning new skills that I wouldn’t have otherwise tried. Now I love it. It brings me peace of mind.”

Over the next two years, we are working towards achieving our objective of engaging with more stitchers in prison, whilst giving the charity greater presence in the prisons and credibility within the sector. We are currently focusing on volunteer recruitment to ensure that we can expand and build our work in prisons to reach more people.

It is therefore vital that we continue our work. We will recruit and train new volunteers to help build and expand our prison needlework programmes.

With a track record of over a 26 years, we know what we need to do to help prisoners build independent crime-free lives. We need your support to do it.

How will your donation help?

• £10,000 pays for the support of FCW staff delivering training in a prison workshop 
• £5,000 covers the cost of a stitching class in prison for a year

• £1,000 supports training and security clearance for a group of 5 volunteers to teach in prison
• £500 pays for the training, materials and support for one prisoner for an entire year
• £250 covers the volunteer costs of a stitching class in prison for a month
• £100 provides a prisoner with the materials for 10 stitching kits (1,000 hours of creative activity)
• £50 sponsors a prisoner to train as a volunteer 'class coordinator' teaching and mentoring other prisoners

Please help us expand our urgently-needed rehabilitation programmes in prison.

Donate to our appeal now.