Caritas Westminster and PACT worked together to encourage more people to volunteer in prisons and with prisoner’s families. During National Prisoners Week, the two charities jointly hosted an event to encourage people to reach out to those currently in prison, or those who have recently been released.
Mgr Martin Hayes opened the presentation by reading an extract from the gospel of Matthew 25: 35-40 ‘when I was in prison you visited me’. He went on to talk about how the work that prison volunteers do is truly the Lord’s work. He encouraged the people attending to remember the dignity of everyone they meet, and to treat them with the respect.
John Coleby, Director of Caritas then began the presentations by asking people to discuss the story of Joseph, a prisoner, and then feedback to the group about what they learnt from his story. Many people said they felt that Joseph was a victim of circumstances beyond his control, and they can understand his motives for committing crime.
Fr Roger Reader then stood up and began explaining the more practical aspects of prison volunteering, and talking about his personal experience of being a prison chaplain and how fulfilling he found this particular ministry. Also speaking about their personal experiences were chaplains from various prisons around London, both lay and clergy who got up and gave moving testimonies.
The participants also heard from PACT the Catholic prisoner’s charity about how vital the work of volunteers was. The evening was a success in not only encouraging more people to become volunteers but raising interest and understanding of the circumstances of people in prison.
If you would like to find out more you can visit the PACT website or email caritaswestminster@rcdow.org.uk
