Although the remit of the charity has expanded considerably such that it now provides funding to support many vocational and employment related courses (e.g. barbering, plumbing, painting & decorating, carpentry) the original ethos remains. This is primarily based on the fact that for the majority of prisoners their experience of the formal school system has not been entirely positive and on average prisoners’ academic levels are lower than the general population. Often the creative subjects, projects and courses are more appealing to prisoners than strict academic subjects and these can then act as a ‘hook’ to engagement in other courses too. For example, cookery is always popular and we have now linked this to an ASDAN qualification which also includes elements of food safety & hygiene, budgeting & menu planning, which require literacy and numeracy skills that can then be developed further once people are engaged and feel more comfortable in the learning environment.
Other courses and classes supported by CLIP include: yoga, art and crafts (inc. rag rugs and crochet), drama (inc. visits from specialist UK drama therapy provider ‘Geese Theatre’), music (guitar & keyboards) and the production of an in-house magazine ‘Bang Up’ the content and editing of which is all undertaken by prisoners, supported by a CLIP funded tutor.