Caspar Walsh: "The arts are seen as a luxury not a necessity."
English prisons have been hit by a serious reduction in arts funding, says Caspar Walsh. This is partly down to the Olympic funding drain and partly due to the billions spent on the war in Iraq, but most importantly this is to do with a new government strategy in prison education funding. The primary focus now is on achieving key and basic skills. The arts are seen as a luxury not a necessity.
I flunked out of school because of the trauma and difficulty of my home life. The arts and the platform for personal expression and healing it provided me with has been a vital part of my rehabilitated life; I dread to think where I'd be without it.
In the presentation of my last prison project, working with dads and their children to create original audio stories, I visibly saw the emotion on the father's faces when they heard their work played back to them. They were nervous about how their stories would be received. When they heard the rounds of applause and saw the smiles of recognition and respect across the room I could see something had shifted for them. They told me their belief in themselves had grown through the project and their connection to their families had deepened. This is why I do the work.
Without the self-esteem that working with the arts undeniably builds there can be little interest in excluded individuals engaging in mainstream education. What exactly is the government's long-term vision about arts provision in prisons? Will it keep on bleeding this massively undervalued route to rehabilitation dry? It seems repeated anecdotal evidence of the power of arts in rehabilitation is not enough.
The power of art in healing is not quantifiable science. It cannot be broken down and boxed into some dry solution without heart, soul and understanding. What are local constituencies doing right now to link up the many service providers needed to help an individual just released from prison to get back on their feet? What arts provision is in place to carry on some of the amazing work being done through the arts in prisons today (especially in Wales), when prisoners are released?
Our organisations, until now, have slipped under the press radar. Where's the story in good news? We are affecting positive change on a local and national level.
Perhaps it's time to stop waiting for the government to miraculously solve the complex problem of crime in our society. Let's step out of the revolving door of reoffending and do something ourselves - and let's do it now.
· Caspar Walsh's prison memoir will be launched by Headline on May 15
