New healthcare project in prison

Women in Prison (WIP) is celebrating after being awarded funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to support women in the criminal justice system around their health.

Starting in December 2019, the three year investment will enable WIP to deliver its ‘Healthy Foundations’ project to support women affected by the criminal justice system to identify and address their health needs.

Women in the criminal justice system have overall more serious health problems than the general population due to disproportionate experiences of chronic poverty, difficulties with mental health, domestic abuse, problematic substance use and substandard housing and homelessness. ‘Healthy Foundations’ will support women to better access healthcare services and provide information and workshops about healthcare and wellbeing.

Women in Prison’s Chief Executive Dr Kate Paradine said:

“We look forward to working with our partners in health, criminal justice and women’s sectors to make sure this investment delivers good outcomes which help women rebuild their lives. But our impact will be limited if women continue being failed by a chronic lack of community support services for women and failure to address the root causes of offending.”