Christmas socks for Wandsworth
'HMP Wandsworth holds mostly men on remand, untried or unsentenced, and frequently very shocked and frightened at where they find themselves.’
An inmate who benefitted two years ago from the Christmas sock appeal for Wandsworth Prison, will this year be helping its relaunch.
Liz Bridge, the Quaker chaplain for HM Prison Wandsworth, told the Friend that the ex-inmate, ‘Jordan’ (not his real name), is ‘helping bag up this year’s socks. He told me that he had done many Christmas days in prison and always found it dreadful’.
‘Jordan’ said: ‘You think everyone is having one of those dinners you see on the adverts. I used to cry, but I am used to it now.’
The sock appeal from Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust (WPWT) follows last year’s appeal for knitted hats so everyone had a woollen hat at Christmas.
‘Our Quaker network was wonderful and we got hats from the Isle of Bute and even New York and Walthamstow,’ said Liz Bridge, who worked with others in 2022 to set up the WPWT to provide small activities and small comforts to men in the prison. ‘This year we are “doing down”! We are going to keep the feet of 1,628 prisoners at HMP Wandsworth a little warmer and perhaps rather jolly.’
‘As you may have heard in the news, HMP Wandsworth is an old building with serious boiler and staffing problems and is one of the biggest prisons in Britain. It holds mostly men on remand, untried or unsentenced, and frequently very shocked and frightened at where they find themselves.’
This tallies with the experience of ‘Jordan’, who said: ‘When we had the “Socks Christmas”, I was sharing with a kid. He had been picked up in Christmas week and had never been inside before, he was so miserable. I was always on watch in case he did anything to himself, but I made him laugh. I kept the bags ‘till Christmas morning and brought them out like a surprise. They were awful socks, one pair had tinsel Father Christmases on them with diamond noses, and another pair were black and enormous. We put them on and felt much more cheerful. He took one of the old prison socks and made it into a glove puppet, and it was a foul-mouthed little beast.’
‘Prison socks are grey and the numbers can be limited,’ said Liz Bridge. ‘So please can you send us a pair of socks – or two – to give out. It really does not matter the size or the colour. We have young men who are delighted with wild socks, and more pedestrian characters who want plain!’
Socks should be posted to Liz Bridge, Quaker chaplain, HMP Wandsworth, Heathfield Road, London SW18 3HU. The charity is also happy to have socks bought online and sent direct. Money instead can be sent via the WPWT website. ‘Once we reach the 20th December, we will count the socks we have and the socks we need, and buy our shortfall,’ said Liz. ‘If we were in the delightful position of having enough real socks, your money would be used for the wind-up radios and reading glasses and art materials we give out weekly.’
