At the beginning of 2009 I had a conversation with Mandy English at the County Durham Drug and Alcohol Action Team.  We discussed the work of Adrian Clarke and in particular his book Gary’s Friends. That book, which was published in 2006, consists of photographs of and interviews with drug users and their carers. It represented both an artistic achievement and an extremely effective way of engaging with a particularly hard to reach community and it has been widely used to help frame policy and to engage with drug users and their carers. What struck me most about Gary’s Friends was that it offered a genuine and meaningful consultation with people whose views are not often heard and when they are heard are usually reduced to the level of cliche. That conversation with Mandy gave birth to this commission: if the format had worked so well why not repeat it but this time concentrating on women who had spent time in custody, focussing on their health, how they came to offend, what backgrounds they came from and what their lives were like both before and after their time in prison. So began the project which became this book and exhibition. I am delighted to be able to introduce it to you and to recommend it as being, like all of Clarke’s work, both a work of art and an invaluable insight into the concerns of a particular community, this time a group of women all of whom have served prison sentences at HMP Low Newton.

The Road to Low Newton is not solely about the experiences of women within prison, although many women do talk about their time inside. It is about their personal journeys often starting early in childhood. Most experienced violent and abusive relationships whether as children or as partners in adult relationships or both. Many witnessed violence between their parents. Most suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse and almost all went on to have a long term dependency on drugs and alcohol. Many live in communities with higher than average levels of crime and deprivation. It is impossible to look at these pictures and read these stories without seeing these women as victims. I don’t mean that I condone their criminal acts but I understand better how those acts came to be committed.

It could not be more appropriate that the exhibition which will accompany this book will be opened by Baroness Corston. We know from her report of the profound difficulties faced by women who in the criminal justice system. Though Baroness Corston acknowledged that for some women offenders a custodial sentence is required in the interests of justice and public protection she also described the high numbers of women on remand or serving sentences for minor non-violent offences for whom prison was inappropriate and counter-productive. She urged a radical rethink of how women are dealt with by the courts. She advocated alternative community solutions some of which are now being piloted across England and Wales. In a sense The Road to Low Newton provides a visual accompaniment to the report. We can look at the faces behind the statistics and we can appreciate Baroness Corston’s comment about this book that most women in prison are more troubled than troublesome.

When we began the project we discussed how likely to was that we would find enough women who would want to participate. It is not everyone who wants to reveal themselves in this particularly candid way. It isn’t everyone, but I understand from Adrian Clarke that not one person whom he asked to participate turned down the opportunity. Nor did any of the women want to appear under a name other than their own. The lesson is clear: people want to be seen and heard so long as they are faithfully and sympathetically represented. All too often real lives become hidden behind a wall of statistics and bureaucracy. We should not forget that it is only by hearing from real people that we can start to frame policy to meet their needs. I thank all of those who appear in the book for their courage and honesty.

Looking through the photographs again I am struck by the photographer’s ability to catch  a significant moment in which his subjects seem to be open and transparent. It is as though their experiences have been compressed into the hundredth of a second it took to take the picture. The photographs exist as narratives in their own right - we can read them like we read words - then the interviews reveal to us that our interpretations are correct. Richard Morrison, writing in The Times about Gary’s Friends, said that there is a painful honesty, a tragic realism born of bitter experience, about these self-told stories. That could be said of these stories as well, but I think it is only because Clarke has watched and listened in a particularly engaged way that these pictures and stories have the ring of truth.

For myself as the Regional Commissioner for the North East Offender Health Service this project has provided an invaluable insight into the health and social needs of women who go to prison. It will inform our future work as Commissioners and will influence the work of others including Public Health and Primary Care within the National Health Service; also Local Authorities, the Police and the National Offender Management Service. It will support our efforts to raise awareness and educate and support others in their understanding of our regional work programme with offenders in relation to meeting their health needs whilst in custody. It will help us to address the concerns of the most vulnerable in our society and to develop safer and healthier communities by reducing the risks of reoffending. All in a format which is as much a work of art as of user consultation.

Julie Dhuny,

Regional Commissioner,

North East Offender Health Service

April 2010

photo 1

index

home