No Caernarfon jail: blow for families

Volunteers and staff working for a Christian agency for ex-offenders and their families have expressed dismay at the news that there will not be a prison in Caernarfon after all.

BARA, a Christian agency sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of Wales, helps ex-offenders and offers a support network for prisoners’ families in Caernarfon.

“It’s a real blow,” said Mererid Mair, BARA coordinator in Caernarfon and community worker at Noddfa Church on Ysgubor Goch Estate in Caernarfon. “We support families who have someone in prison, and having a jail here would have made things so much easier for them. It’s ridiculous really that there’s no prison in north Wales. And there’s the economic side too – we need jobs here in Caernarfon.”

“In fact, two BARA volunteers have today driven a family all the way down to Bridgend to see a family member who’s in Parc Prison. He hasn’t had a visit since before last Christmas, partly because of the logistical nightmare of trying to get there.”

Around one in three prisoners at HM Prison Altcourse, Liverspool, originates from north Wales. BARA (Welsh for bread) helps ex-offenders as they attempt to resettle into communities in north Wales, offering assistance with the issues they may have related to finding accommodation or deaing with alcohol and other substance misuse, as well as giving encouragement with work, education and leisure. BARA volunteers also support offenders’ families as they come to terms with the absence of a husband, son or father, and then help them to adapt on his release.  It is sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of Wales, amongst others.

Visit the BARA website: www.bara.uk.net.