Friends on the inside
A reflection by Quaker chaplain Ruth Moore Williams
It is Monday afternoon and here we are again, sitting in a circle of silence, waiting. Some of us find it easier to wait than others. It’s only twenty minutes, but to some of us it’s like twenty years.
X finds it easier because he’s sure to fall asleep after five minutes. Y finds it hard: he’s coming off his long-term ‘meds’ and the inside of his eyelids are too close for comfort. B would find it easier if she wasn’t sitting by C, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and twitches to the sound of the maraca band in his head. Z is standing in the Light, so are E and K. D is trying to read one of those weird Quaker books. It’s not exactly an exciting read; the words are many and long. L is trying not to think about his family. Q is wondering how long he can last before he has to break this silence that he can’t hide in. The chaplain is wondering if she bought enough biscuits and that she shouldn’t be thinking at all, never mind wondering about anything but the wonder of silence.
Welcome to HMP Berwyn’s ‘Time Out’ session. We are a motley crew and we have a great time.
The men come to get some peace, for the coffee and biscuits, for the ‘crack/craic’ – both Quaker and prison varieties – and for the spiritual upholding. Friends come bringing humanity, normality and the Light into prison. We all sit down together, with our collective pasts of depression, abuse, drug-addiction, alcoholism, physical and mental pain, and enjoy some of the most profound silences the more long-term Friends have ever experienced. The silence is intense, the Light is bright and the Love between us is made manifest. Not every time, of course, but often enough.
I give thanks for the friends I am finding on the inside. The women and men who endure the prison system need help, not just in prison, but in the future when they leave. Many have nowhere to go but a hostel or the street. Many have little money. Many have no family, no friends.
But they have Friends. I would like them to still have Friends on their release. If someone comes to your Meeting and reveals they are an ex-offender (a horrible word) I would like you to welcome them.
They are refugees – refugees from a war with themselves and refugees in a society where a caring community no longer exists, or is very well-hidden, not just for them but for the poor, the old, the vulnerable, the refugees from around the world…
All over Britain, places are declaring themselves Places of Sanctuary for refugees. My own Local Meeting, Llangollen, is now a Sanctuary Meeting. I would like that to include refugees from prison. I would like that sanctuary to spread to all the groups in our interfaith communities.
I see HMP Berwyn as Elizabeth Fry’s vision of prison made real – the rehabilitation of people who have gone wrong and are looking for the Light. People in prison matter and they should matter to us, Friends. When they return home, we can help in their continued rehabilitation. Let us be open to hear the twenty-first century sufferings of prisoners and let us welcome these women and men in every Meeting for Worship.
In HMP Berwyn a prisoner is not a prisoner. He is a man. A cell is not a cell. It’s a room. A wing is not a wing. It’s a community. Words matter. Friends know this. While our faith has the sacredness of silence at its heart and soul, we Friends write thousands and thousands of words each year trying to engage with our Quakerism as an individual and as a religious Society.
A man came to Berwyn eight weeks ago. He has served many years in English prisons. His first language is Welsh. He has no family contact. Until he came he hadn’t spoken his native tongue for a long, long time. He looks to a time when he will find a home in a Welsh-speaking community. Words matter.
HMP Berwyn is located on an industrial estate near Wrexham in North Wales. It is the first of the UK’s super prisons. When Berwyn is full it will house 2,106 men. The ethos of HMP Berwyn is rehabilitation. Every small interaction in Berwyn is one that leads to seeing everyone as a person. All who live and work in Berwyn are encouraged to speak to the good inside each other.
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