This campaign has now closed
In its 10th year and serving 10 prisons, Liberty Choir is a full-circle charity delivering a weekly music programme and offering, through its cohort of dedicated volunteers, a renewed sense of hope and purpose to prisoners on release when they are welcomed into our network of community choirs.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
Our prisons have become, quite literally, unbearable. In one prison alone (HMP Wandsworth), since the beginning of this year, 7 men have taken their own lives. Why? Overcrowding. Under-staffing. No purposeful activity. Rats and vermin. Blood and human excrement on walls. 23+hr lock-ins are usual; 48hr lock-ins are not uncommon. The Independent Monitoring Board call conditions 'inhumane'. Richie, former Wandsworth prisoner, says - 'You wouldn't treat a dog like this'.
Solution
With its 100 strong band of fully vetted and key trained volunteers, LC provides a maximum impact service with minimum demand on prison resources; offering a caring hand of hope and constancy to prisoners where previously there has been nothing. Supported by its own Graduates (former LC singers), the LC programme helps prisoners to develop the skills, positive mindset and self-belief to build themselves a brighter future and contribute more positively to the wider community on release.
