2020-12-31-accounts

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The Prison Phoenix Trust CIO Report and Accounts December 31, 2020

The Prison Phoenix Trust CIO PO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF Tel. 01865 512521 / 512522 www.theppt.org.uk Registered Charity Number 1163558

Mission Statement

The opportunity for personal growth exists in a prison cell.

The Prison Phoenix Trust responds to and encourages prisoners in the development of their spirituality and sense of personal responsibility, through the disciplines of meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath.

The Trust offers personal support to prisoners through teaching, workshops, correspondence, books, CDs and newsletters – and to prison officers too.

The Trust recommends simple yoga sensitively tailored to students’ needs. This includes postures and movements, breathing exercises, relaxation and meditation where students focus on their breath.

Concentrating on silence in the breath throughout yoga practice offers students ultimate peace of mind. This is the goal of ancient yoga, as well as being a calming practice.

A Summary of Activities

In 2020, the year the pandemic created restrictions on everyone’s freedoms, meditation and yoga came into their own to support the prison community, which was hit particularly hard. Extreme measures were taken to limit the spread of the virus amongst a community that by its nature is extremely vulnerable. With prisoners experiencing being locked up in their cells for 23 hours a day, overstretched staff reached out to the Prison Phoenix Trust to support their wellbeing.

Unprecedented demand

In April we received our highest ever number of requests for our free meditation and yoga resources, our books and CDs. Several prisons purchased copies for all their inmates. During this year we sent over 2,500 pieces of correspondence supporting prisoners in their spiritual lives. We met this demand while manning the office one or two at a time to keep our staff safe and comply with government measures, with the rest of our staff and volunteers working from home. Our new radio programme Freedom Inside began broadcasting on National Prison Radio three times a week, becoming a lifeline for some prisoners.

Quick response

The Trust was quick to adapt, converting existing resources into practice handouts, downloadable from the website, for prison staff to share with inmates. We also converted teacher and public events to online formats. Our planned teacher event, Race in Prison with Dr Coretta Phillips, Associate Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics, was swiftly converted from an in-person to online format, and went ahead as scheduled on the first weekend of lockdown in March. Unlimited by travel restrictions, teachers were able to attend from across the United Kingdom and Ireland. This new mode of communication worked well for us, so we had a second online workshop in June as we launched a campaign to support our network of prison yoga teachers in their outreach to their prisons, Staying Connected – Emerging Stronger . In late summer and autumn prison yoga teachers started to return to prison teaching as the prisons cautiously reopened to external visitors. Around twenty prison classes were taking place before lockdown restrictions were reinstated, which shows that teachers were able to pick up where they left off as soon as possible. There was also new demand for classes, such as a class for vulnerable women at HMP Styal.

Widening our reach

Our annual event took the format of a webinar, Listening In . This opportunity to hear the dialogues of former and serving prisoners used on our prison radio programme was orchestrated by radio presenter and Trustee Penny Boreham. She was joined by a live panel made up of four of the former prisoners who took part in the programme. The event was attended by over 300 people, extending the awareness of our work at a time when there appeared to be more empathy for prisoners.

We put forward a submission to the prison education service for England and Wales on how we are placed to deliver distance learning initiatives to supporting the wellbeing of prisoners.

Sharing meditation

We began a new online meditation with and for the prison community. These were held weekly on Tuesday mornings and hosted by our Yoga Coordinators and Directors. When our annual

three day silent retreat was not possible in person, we had a good base to offer a silent online day retreat. Extending our commitment to meditation has strengthened the practices of our staff members, volunteers, trustees, prison yoga teachers and supporters. This ripples out to the prisoners, who they in turn guide. Serving prisoners also take part in our meditation mornings offline. Meditation Together has become an established part of the week for our participants.

Prison visits paused

The year had got off to a strong start. This included four visits to secure establishments – three prisons and an Approved Premises, where we taught a total of seven classes. Sam and Selina attended a wellbeing day for the Isle of Sheppey prison community of HMP Standford Hill, HMP Elmley and HMP Swaleside. Victoria and Jason ran workshops at HMP Foston Hall women’s prison and Selina and Sally ran workshops at Stonnall Road Approved Premises for former prisoners on licence, in Walsall, West Midlands. Three of our staff members also attended HMP Grendon’s Prisoner Art Day. During these visits we were all struck by how much prison staff members from all different departments and prisoners themselves spread the word, recommending our resources and the value of our work. This informal network has a huge impact in extending our reach – our workshop at Stonnall Road was due to a former prison yoga student instigating bringing yoga to his new place of residence. Numerous workshops lined up for the year were paused as institutions closed to external visitors across all our four prison systems – Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and England and Wales.

People

The dedication of our staff and our volunteers’ time and skill kept the office running alongside working from home. This allowed our work to continue and us to respond to growing demand in spite of the restrictions. Our deep appreciation goes to our volunteers, who wrote letters, carried home boxes of newsletters to prepare for despatch, and helped us in every way possible.

2020 was a year of change for the staff too. Our Director, Sam, stepped down after some time on compassionate leave. Clive (our Accountant) and Sally (a Yoga Coordinator) also chose to move on for their own lifestyle reasons. Within our small staff team of eight, this had a big impact. Our Trustees stepped in with their support around staff changes and put resources into hiring a human resources consultant to update our policies and work with us on our recruitment procedures. Yoga Coordinator Selina was appointed as Director, after a competitive external recruitment campaign, taking over from Sam in October. She took the opportunity to restructure the staff, promoting Victoria to Yoga Lead and Laura to People and Office Coordinator. To keep operating costs down in an uncertain time, the decision was made to reduce the staff number from eight to seven until after the pandemic, by recruiting one Yoga Coordinator instead of the two who had moved out of the roles. The recruitment of a Letter Writing Lead and Yoga Coordinator went ahead with the new recruits, Mike Smith and Chris Holt, starting in 2021. Padmakumara Potter joined as Accountant.

In May, our consultancy base was strengthened with Martin O’Neill, Campus Governor of the Irish Prison Service joining. During the summer, numbers in the office moved up to two, with staff and volunteers taking it in turns, and a socially distanced staff picnic was able to take place.

Revising policy

With changes to our working practices and staff, the opportunity was taken to revise and update our working policies. A comprehensive staff and volunteer handbook was drafted by our HR consultant, with guidance from the Trustees and a risk assessment of letter writers working from home undertaken. This handbook instigates more robust policies and a greater focus on safeguarding.

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||| |---|---| |The Chair’s Message|6| |Structure, Governance and Management|7| |Appointment of rustees T|7| |Risk Management|7| |Aims|8| |Objectives|8| |Activities|9| |How Yoga and Meditation Help Prisoners|14| |Letters, Books and CDs|16| |Weekly Classes and aster Workshops T|15| |Prison Yoga eachers T|20| |Keeping in ouch T|22| |PPT Scotland|24| |PPT Ireland|25| |Volunteers|26| |Reference and Administrative Information|27| |Financial Review|31| |Investment Policy|33| |Reserves Policy|34| |Trustees’ Responsibilities in Relation to the Financial Statements|34| |Donors|36| |Annual Accounts| |37| |Independent Examiner’s Report| |38| |Statement of Financial Activities| |39| |Balance Sheet as at December 31, 2020| |40| |Notes to the Accounts|

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From the Chair

The period of time covered by this annual report of 2020 has been extraordinary and exceptional. The pandemic is on everybody’s lips and consciousness. It has produced unexpected challenges and also positive opportunities. I would like to thank all our staff for their tremendous work at this difficult time – not just in holding a steady course but in adapting and creating new and even better ways of reaching and helping prisoners. We are delighted by how many more people we’ve been able to reach and help this year through initiatives like the handouts and the online lecture.

In October Sam stepped down after ten years as Director (and longer as teacher and yoga coordinator). The Trustees responded with a successful recruitment strategy and with huge pleasure appointed Selina as our new Director. Selina fitted immediately into the role, bringing her valuable leadership skills and professional meditation and yoga teaching capacities to benefit our work, as well as her long association with the PPT. Our accountant, Clive, retired last year and we welcomed Padmakumara, joining us with valuable charitable experience and meditation practice.

We appointed two new trustees in 2020, Suzy Dymond-White and James Mallett, who brought greater depth of prison experience to our Board. Suzy is Governor of Eastwood Park women’s prison. With her extensive experience of the prison service, helps guide us through the changes emerging in the prison system. We are also proud to be working with James, a friend and former service user, benefiting from his wisdom of experience. I take this opportunity to show our respect for John Dring OBE, a valued and hardworking trustee for fifteen years, who retired as a trustee in 2019 and recently died.

We have managed change well and come through into a period of new opportunities and strength. My warmest thanks are for the staff who have worked extremely hard during this time. Thank you Sam and Clive for your contribution over many years.

Gratitude too to our loyal and hardworking volunteers, our trustees as a body and as individuals and our supporters who dug deep to keep our work flowing. Pulling together with huge commitment to the organisation we all love, carrying it through a challenging year. I look forward to our next period of reaching out and widening our resources to all prisoners and prison staff in support of their greater focus on wellbeing.

Giles Charrington, Chair of the Trustees

Report of the Trustees for the year to December 31, 2020

The Trustees present their report along with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended December 31, 2020. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on page 40 and comply with the Charity’s Constitution and applicable law.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Prison Phoenix Trust CIO (“the Trust”) was established under a constitution dated September 14 2015 and is a registered charitable incorporated organisation No 1163558. The assets and liabilities of the unincorporated charity of the same name were transferred to the CIO as at 31 March 2016. The unincorporated charity remains on the register of charities but is now inactive. The Trustees met four times in the period to December 31 2020.

Appointment of Trustees

Trustees are appointed only when they are fully familiar with the work of the Trust. Potential Trustees respond to advertisements or are recommended by existing Trustees, staff or friends of the Trust because of relevant skills or experience of the prison system, spirituality or charity management. Following interviews, any prospective Trustees observe two Trustee meetings and are given copies of the books and material the PPT sends to prisoners to help them understand our work and philosophy. They are also provided with a copy of the Trust Deed, and given appropriate Charity Commission publications including the guidance on public benefit. This induction continues after a Trustee is appointed by the provision of detailed Director’s reports in advance of each Trustee meeting. Trustees are invited to all promotional, social and fundraising events of the Trust, in person or online, so they can meet with ex-prisoners, staff, volunteers, supporters and yoga teachers who can provide first-hand feedback on the daily work of the Trust. Suzy Dymond-White, Governor of Eastwood Park women’s prison and James Mallett, a former service user, joined as new Trustees contributing much valued insights into prisons and the experience of prisoners.

Risk Management

The Trustees and Director conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed and the impact of the pandemic on working practices, utilising the risk management framework to identify the top seven risks. Where appropriate, systems or procedures were developed to mitigate the risks the charity faces. The review highlighted the risks to the charity’s work of working remotely and the impact of prisons being in extended periods of lockdown on the charity’s core work. Safeguarding was added to the framework as a separate category, with expert guidance instigated by membership of specialists, thirtyone:eight. A new system of identifying the top seven risks each quarter has been put in place. Trustees have also taken responsibility to head up the six areas of risk. The Trustees formally review the framework at least annually.

Aims

The objects of the CIO as noted in the constitution are for the public benefit to advance the education of and to rehabilitate and promote the mental and moral improvement of (principally) prisoners and former prisoners, primarily in the UK and Ireland, but also of:

people in other forms of compulsory detention;
those undergoing community punishments, and
those identified as being at risk of entry into the criminal justice system.

Objectives

Our objectives are set to reflect our aims of education, rehabilitation and mental and moral improvement. This is done primarily through correspondence with prisoners, the provision of free books and CDs, our Freedom Inside programme on National Prison Radio, a quarterly newsletter, running prison and teacher workshops, and supporting ongoing yoga and meditation classes for prisoners and prison staff. These activities are provided freely and are available to anyone detained in any secure establishment and the staff looking after them in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These objectives reflect the principal aim for which the Trust was established.

The Trustees, together with the staff, meet regularly to review our objectives and activities to ensure that they continue to reflect our principal aims. The Trustees considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in doing so complied with their duty to have regard for that guidance.

Activities

As set out below, the Trust carries out a wide range of activities in pursuance of its charitable aims. The Trustees consider that these activities, for which there is no financial charge, provide benefit to any prisoners, detainees, patients in secure hospitals and approved premises residents who wish to avail themselves of our support. Among those held within these institutions, we place no restrictions on who may benefit from our activities. The umbrella term ‘prisoners’ refers to residents in all these secure establishments.

A large part the work of the Trust – encouraging prisoners in their self-development through meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath – carried on as usual in 2020, making a real difference to prisoners’ lives during the virus lockdown. The year began with a continuation of usual activities for the Trust. As the country locked down, our over thirty years’ experience in supporting prisoners remotely came in to its own, and we carried on by adapting.

From April 2020, we were inundated by requests from prison managers, asking for for our help and recognising the value in what we offer. We were one of the few recognised interventions able to continue and our main objective during the restrictions was to ensure that prisoners had access to materials and knowledge that can help them practise meditation and yoga in their cells. The number of prisoners requesting our help rose by 88% last April. This reflects their desire to use the therapeutic practices of meditation and yoga to nurture their mental and physical wellbeing during the long periods in their cells.

The aspect of our work most impacted by the pandemic was that our prison workshops had to come to a halt when strict measures came in to keep vulnerable prison populations safe from the spread of the virus from outside. The Trust was quick to react and made a strategic decision to shift part of the roles of its three Yoga Coordinators. Time usually spent organising and teaching workshops was redirected to create and share much needed resources to help prisoners in their cells and develop new initiatives. In the chart below, Prison Workshops includes in-cell support.

Pie chart to show distribution of staff time 2020

Spiritual guidance to prisoners

The foundation of the Trust’s work in supporting prisoners in their spiritual lives, is directly through letter writing correspondence. This is enriched by sharing free copies of our four

specialist books and our two CDs at appropriate times to support the deepening of the prisoners’ practice. We also send all those we are in touch with, their own copy of our prisoners newsletter, published quarterly (see page 22 for more detail).

During 2020 over 2,500 pieces of correspondence were shared with those inside. These were personally written by staff members and a strong base of volunteer letter writers. To do this, a decision was made to keep the office open every day to receive and despatch the post, manned by one member of staff at a time, during the strict lockdown times.

Yoga and meditation programme Freedom Inside

PPT staff member Laura sends out books and CDs to prisoners during the first lockdown

A new series of our National Prison Radio

programme, Freedom Inside , began in 2020. The series comprises twelve 45 minute yoga and meditation sessions, repeated throughout the year. Each practice session is introduced by a former prisoner in dialogue with a serving prisoner about their experiences of change through practice. The bulk of each episode is a guided practice from one of the expert prison yoga teachers on our staff. Produced by professional radio producer and a member of our board of Trustees, Penny Boreham, the programme became a lifeline for many prisoners. National Prison Radio have highlighted Freedom Inside on their social media, and the schedule, including our show, is prominently displayed in Inside Time, the prisoners’ newspaper. In 2020 33% of prisoners regularly listened to National Prison Radio.

A letter from a prisoner about our radio show, Freedom Inside

Yoga in prisons

Prisons are widely engaging with yoga to support the wellbeing of prisoners in their physical, mental and spiritual health. Over three quarters of prisons (77%) were either running classes pre-pandemic or have been using our in-cell practice sheets to support their prisoners during this

time. A focus of our work is in establishing and maintaining yoga classes in prisons and secure establishments across the United Kingdom and Ireland. In March 2020, before the pandemic brought prison yoga classes to a halt, classes were running in 51% of prisons throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. When prisoners became unable to attend classes, twenty in-cell practice sheets were created and shared with prison staff to download from the Prison Phoenix Trust website and hand out to their prisoners.

2020 began with a strong start for those of us involved in running taster workshops. We taught seven workshops in three establishments before the lockdown put many other planned workshops and numerous yoga classes on pause. See page 18 for more details.

As prisons started to lockdown with inmates confined in their cells for up to 23 ½ hours a day and yoga teachers were stopped from going in to teach their regular classes, prison staff started frantically searching for things prisoners could do under their own steam to use their time productively. On 23[rd] March we received an email request from the Managing Chaplain at HMP Long Lartin, asking if we could send copies of the sequences we feature in our newsletters, for him to print out and distribute more widely to help prisoners not in receipt of our newsletters. This sparked us to find our way to make these accessible to the wider prison community – prison staff and yoga teachers – so they might do the same as Long Lartin. Pulling together as a wider team, we quickly set things in motion. We know prisoners appreciate these practices as featured in Inside Time for their visual clarity and ease of use. With a bank of monthly articles stretching back many years for that publication, we had a depth of resources to draw on.

We took the strategic decision to password protect the handout area of the website, providing the password to teachers and prison staff who phoned. This meant the yoga coordinators could gain a measure of the interest from teachers and prison staff. Of equal importance, this has allowed us to forge new relationships and keep

in touch with existing contacts. We could tell them about existing and potential yoga classes we’re planning for when circumstances allow outside visitors into prison again. The new area of the website was designed by our Communications Manager, Lucy. This idea had been mooted for some time before the pandemic, so she and the Yoga Coordinators were able to make it happen quickly. The new section was live by 30[th] March.

Getting the word out benefitted from us using all routes of communication. Working from our own homes, we responded to requests coming in from email using remote technology linking us in to the office computers. Phone calls to the office were diverted to different staff members, including the Yoga Coordinators. Social media (Twitter) quickly generated interest in the handouts. So far we have spoken to around 200 prison staff from a spectrum of

One of our handouts

different disciplines (physical education, chaplaincy, education, psychology and mental health) about our handouts. We need no reminder of this, but it is significant within the criminal justice sector how widely valued yoga and meditation has become.

The unprecedented demand for our yoga and meditation books and CDs meant we were able to capture interest from prisons, where for different reasons no yoga classes had currently been running. This has given us great scope to set up new classes when the doors open again. Aylesbury YOI, for example, bought a book and CD for every one of its 219 inmates and is now back in conversation with us about starting classes again when we can. HMP Warren Hill has been ticking along with interest in yoga and wished they had started earlier. There are numerous examples of this.

Supporting prison yoga teachers and their own relationship with their prisons and institutions has been critical during this time. By having our handouts available for teachers too, we have encouraged them to offer these (or their own) to their prisons so they can support their students from a distance and keep their relationships alive by offering something of value. Teachers have also been able to cultivate new interest in yoga from those not already attending their classes. HMP Guernsey asked their yoga teacher if the handouts she was providing to her students could be extended to everyone.

To keep things fresh, we decided to roll out new handouts in a structured way so we could spark new interest with each release. A second tranche were designed, uploaded to our website and shared in the autumn, giving new practices to engage and support those with an excess of time in their cells. A further set were planned for early spring 2021.

Yoga teacher training and development

An annual plan of prison yoga teacher training events was devised and publicised through our dedicated yoga teachers’ newsletter and personal invitation. Training events were moved online using Zoom, giving an opportunity for those who might not have travelled to Oxford to take part. We ran two teacher workshops during the year, one on Race in Prison and the other to launch our new initiative Staying Connected – Emerging Stronger . We recognise the need to support our network of prison yoga teachers, whose classes had been suspended with little or no communication from their prisons. This has led to innovative ways to keep yoga going remotely, including using their own handouts and offering online classes for staff. It was encouraging that when restrictions began to be eased, institutions were keen to get in touch and restart classes. Around twenty classes were being run in prisons, hospitals, detention centres and approved premises in the autumn, before the pandemic paused many of these again. Time usually spent by the Yoga Coordinators supporting prison yoga teachers running classes was reallocated to support prison staff in providing in-cell practices.

Public education

It is important to let the public, as well as our friends and supporters, know about our work. Whilst our prisoners’ newsletter is shared with an outside audience with the intention to go some way towards that, we also hold an annual public event each year. We began planning 2020’s annual event before the pandemic restricted our ability to bring our supporters together in a physical space. The original concept of our Listening In event was that former prisoners would discuss the impact of yoga and meditation and we would air some of our new radio show to a physical audience in the auditorium of an Oxford college. This was converted from a physical event into an online event, which we held on 30[th] June. As planned for the physical event, we heard from four former prisoners about how yoga and meditation helped them in prison and listened to extracts from the PPT’s current National Prison Radio show, Freedom Inside . We were grateful to radio producer and PPT trustee, Penny Boreham, generously giving her time and adapting skillfully to hosting an online event. Both Penny and Sam were hosts,

with four panellists and five staff members working on the running of the event behind the scenes. Everyone was physically separate, taking part from their own homes. An achievement in itself! Former prisoners James, Sue, Dee and Mike took part as panellists. They had all been featured on the radio programme and continue to support our work. We valued their willingness and confidence in trying the online meeting format and conferencing platform, Zoom.

With unlimited audience capacity and no geographic, physical or social barriers, we were able to publicise the event far and wide: to all our supporters, colleagues in the prison service, our network of prison yoga teachers, yoga teachers interested in prison work, and friends. Through using EventBrite as an event ticketing service and social media marketing, we were also able to reach people unfamiliar with the PPT. 536 people registered for the event through EventBrite and others directly with the PPT. Of these, we know at least 307 took part on the evening. There was good audience engagement, with around 100 questions being put to the panel. Of those who registered, 70 worked in the criminal justice sector and an additional 21 were yoga teachers working in criminal justice. It was evident from the questions submitted by members of the audience that several former prisoners had attended with interest in how to best transition to being out of prison, and with the audience experiencing limitations on their own lives during the pandemic, there was a marked empathy with prisoners’ life experiences. Penny and the panellists adeptly discussed themes like anxiety, how prisoners get started with meditation, difficulties of grief and drug relapse, de-toxing, relationships, keeping positive and how they kept going with personal spiritual growth.

We ended the year feeling immensely grateful to all our staff, volunteers, Trustees, consultants, supporters and friends – in prison and out, pulling out all the stops to keep our work not just going, but thriving at a time when it was needed more than ever. We certainly do not know the deep challenges of being imprisoned and suffering extended time in isolation, but our own glimpses of life in lockdown has raised the consciousness of our work and extended our reach.

A socially distanced summer meeting for the staff

How Yoga and Meditation Help Prisoners

Prisoners tell us each day in their letters or when we meet them that the practices we recommend are helping: they allow them to sleep and to feel more at ease; to get along better with family, fellow prisoners and officers; and to discover a sense of hope and purpose for their lives, and their futures. Most importantly, meditation and yoga help them see, at a profound level, that they are not separate from the rest of the world. They speak of feeling less fearful and antagonised, of wanting to give something back to society, of feeling connected with something positive.

Day to day stress as well as tension from traumatic events in one’s life are held and show up not only in the mind, but also the body. The stretches, postures, breathing practices and relaxation of yoga not only keep the body’s systems strong and healthy, they also release tension in a safe and controlled fashion, especially when practised with continued attention on the breathing. The seated meditation, focussing on the immediate physical experience of the breath rather than on thoughts and feelings, allows the normal activity of the mind to slow down, so that they can be more easily seen. This break from being locked into the internal chatter is not only deeply

refreshing, it gives prisoners a chance to experience thoughts and feelings without reacting to them automatically. This is empowering: it allows one to see that strong physical and mental conditioning can be responded to with wisdom, instead of habit.

As this ability to see one’s own inner “workings” strengthens, and with support from PPT letter writers and yoga teachers, prisoners develop concentration, interest and even joy in their meditation. This leads them to become more and more familiar with an inner, living strength which is not reliant on concepts, and which reaches beyond their past and notions of who they are or are not.

That spiritual strength matures through a regular practice of “not thinking,” so we offer silent meditation on the breath, as extolled by the world’s wisdom traditions. This practice is not confined to any one religion, nor does one have to be a believer in any system to practise it: it is rooted in silence and informed by silence, which means familiarity with the mind that isn’t overwhelmed by feeling or conceptual thinking. The only belief necessary is that such silence can be therapeutic, and that one can feel better (and even that belief can be let go of in true inner silence).

It isn’t a matter of minimising or repressing one’s personality, thinking or emotional life: the practice of silent meditation and yoga enables a fuller, more harmonious expression of being human. Many prisoners take this daily discipline seriously and discover that their thinking and feeling become clearer and more manageable, and that they have fresh energy and creativity to engage with their lives.

The PPT recognises that prison staff are under tremendous pressure, and that those staff are key to any activity in prison running successfully, so we provide classes, books and support for prison officers too. This not only creates goodwill among staff, making it more likely that they will support the prisoners’ yoga classes; of equal importance, yoga and meditation offer practical help for the intense stress of their jobs.

Letters, Books and CDs

The original aim of the Prison Phoenix Trust, as set out by its founder, Ann Wetherall, was to support and encourage prisoners in their spiritual lives through correspondence. Her vision continues to form the cornerstone of our work, with a team of 24 volunteers corresponding with people in prison. During 2020 they despatched 2,674 book packs to prisoners and prison staff who requested our help.

Since mid-March when the pandemic began, we were inundated by requests from prison managers for our help. They recognised that what we offered made a real difference to prisoners’ lives. During the virus lockdown, we were one of the few recognised interventions that could continue. Our main objective during the restrictions was to ensure that prisoners had access to materials and knowledge that can help them practise meditation and yoga in their cells. The number of prisoners requesting our help rose by up to 88% during April. This reflected their desire to use the therapeutic practices of meditation and yoga to nurture their mental and physical wellbeing during the long periods in their cells.

Prisoners find out about what we offer through the prison grapevine, regular articles in the prison newspaper InsideTime, or when we visit prisons to run free taster workshops. Each prisoner who writes receives a personal, usually hand-written letter in reply, along with the books or CD she or he requested. The volunteer will also offer to stay in touch, to support the prisoner in their practice and effort to live out the beneficial aspects of what they are discovering. The Trust stays in contact with nearly 5% of the UK and Ireland prison population: this is at least 4,770 inmates and 1,118 members of staff in 234 prisons, detention centres, young offender institutions, secure hospitals and approved premises. In addition, we remain in touch with 235 ex-prisoners who continue their meditation and yoga practice in the community. Members of the public interested in meditation and yoga, and keen to support our work, also buy the books and CD.

The yoga and meditation books include those we specifically produced for people with low literacy, and for those who cannot read at all. One such book is Freeing the Spirit , a guide to practising yoga and meditation written at literacy level 1 and using light-hearted drawings

which accurately depict how to safely practise the postures. The other is Yoga Without Words, a picture book showing how to practise yoga and meditation in a prison cell, designed for prisoners with extremely low literacy or who cannot read at all, including foreign nationals.

For those who can read well and want to develop a meditation practice, we have produced Peace Inside: a prisoner’s guide to meditation . The book features a large section of letters from prisoners telling their experience of meditation and how it is helping them find meaning and hope, as well as replies from letter writers at the Trust. This is the first book we asked a publisher to print, rather than us self-publishing, and this is helping to raise the Trust’s public profile as the book is sold in book stores and online. More importantly, it is encouraging more prisoners to correspond with us, and to share their own inner experiences and self-development.

Our two CDs allow prisoners to practise a yoga class either on their own, or in a group using the recordings for guidance. Each CD has a number of yoga and meditation sessions narrated by an experienced prison yoga teacher. They are popular with those unable to attend a prison yoga class and with those who do attend, but who wish to practise in their cells in between classes.

Weekly Classes and Taster Workshops

Taster yoga and meditation workshops are the most effective way of getting weekly classes going in prisons, approved premises (bail hostels), immigration removal centres (IRCs) and secure hospitals.

The introductory workshops offer prisoners and staff alike the direct experience of yoga and meditation. Two PPT staff members will take in a local yoga teacher who we think would be suitable. On the day, that teacher can experience the atmosphere and conditions of prison and just take part in the workshops without any teaching responsibility to begin with. It’s a chance for the local teacher to meet the prisoners and prison staff, start to get acclimatised and join the discussion about the possibility of an on-going weekly class.

2020 began with a strong start for us running taster workshops. Sam and Selina taught four mini yoga and meditation classes at the HMP Standford Hill wellbeing day on January 20[th] for all three prisons in the Sheppey Cluster. This was followed by a further two workshops, before the pandemic lockdown put plans on hold. We held workshops at Foston Hall (a women’s closed prison) and Stonnall Road approved premises.

A further four workshops were arranged and ready to go at HMP Brixton, HMP Haverigg, Bilston Approved Premises and the London Pathway Partnership HUB in Southwark, London. We were also due to teach at the HMPPS training centre’s wellbeing day for the Prison Maintenance Group and a number of other workshops were being planned. These were put on hold and are expected to run once the establishments are open to outside teachers again.

“I just feel the need to report back straight away just what a fantastic experience the yoga workshop was. We had three residents attend who all got a lot out of it and two staff who also thoroughly enjoyed it. One resident in particular, Michael, can’t wait for another session. He said he felt so good after the event, it has helped his back and he knows some good breathing and stretching exercises. We have been offered order forms for some free books and literature for residents to order and use, some are already completing the forms. The staff from Phoenix have been so good and so helpful and all who attended loved the atmosphere. It was also really pleasing to be told how much they enjoyed visiting us and how welcomed they were! Cannot thank you all enough for getting this session sorted and hopefully this will now become regular activity for the residents and staff. It fits in so well with our EE status and continues to show how we want to develop and include new things. Thank you all again so much.” Sally leads a workshop in Stonnall Road

Sally leads a workshop in Stonnall Road approved premises in February 2020

From Dave Grosvenor, Probation

Officer

“Thank you for your support and your help. It has been very helpful today.”

“Very relaxing. Helped me de-stress and be mindful.”

“Excellent. Would do weekly. ”

From residents at Stonnall Road Approved Premises

More and more, prison managers are recognising the effectiveness of yoga and meditation to help them achieve their rehabilitative aims. It is for this reason, and our unique approach to supporting the whole prison that we have kept in touch with staff from across the prison estate, who reached out to us for help in supporting those in their care during extended periods of lockdown.

Victoria and a local yoga teacher at HMP Foston Hall

Prison Yoga Teachers

The Prison Phoenix Trust is dedicated to offering training and support to qualified yoga teachers to prepare them to work successfully in prison. Our training and workshops prepare them for the practical realities of prison work, and emphasise the importance of their own ongoing spiritual development. Teachers are helped to have a healthy respect for the prison environment so they can work safely and effectively. They are taught the importance of security and boundaries, to understand and work with the prison hierarchy and to recognise and respect the great work done by prison staff in what are often very challenging conditions.

It is not easy to teach in prison: the pay is usually poor, and teachers often face administrative hurdles when getting their classes established. This can feel isolating and they may feel undervalued by their prison, so we provide support and foster the prison yoga teacher community, reminding them of the power and benefit of their work. We support teachers through such challenges.

We have been offering a workshp each year for current prison yoga teachers since 2016 to provide an opportunity for the teachers and cover teachers to meet and share experiences. These days have become a highlight in the PPT calendar, a chance to reconnect with teachers from all over the country and learn from the collective wisdom and experience. This year’s workshop featured a talk on race in prisons by Dr Coretta Phillips, Associate Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and a talk by Mike, a former prisoner who was planning on running the London Marathon for the PPT that year. As March unfolded the usual workshop format was no longer possible and the team were quick to act to ensure the event went ahead online on the first weekend of the lockdown with 24 participants. Coretta talked about race in prisons and the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in the justice system (BAME).

Statistically, BAME groups make up 13% of the general population, but represent 27% of the prison population in this country. Coretta related how racism and unconscious bias in the community impacted the experience of BAME prisoners. Highlighting her research findings Coretta found BAME prisoners reported a culture of mistrust and aggression in prison and coped by adopting a mask of bravado in order to not appear vulnerable to fellow prisoners. “I stand two inches taller when I step outside my cell.”

A regular part of the programme for the prison yoga teachers’ day is time for the teachers to share their challenges and experiences. With lockdown recently imposed the main topic was how to help prison staff and students when classes were not possible. There was understandable worry about loss of income and shared concern for the wellbeing of the prison community as a whole. We were able to announce the

Victoria and Sally lead an online meditation day

launch of our secure webpage with downloadable handouts for the prisons and encouraged the teachers to have conversations with their prisons about these.

The closing activity for the session was a ten-minute meditation. It was interesting to contrast the stillness and peace of that screen time with the chatter and energy of the previous activities. It felt like a welcome and familiar space and we were pleasantly surprised that the sense of group connection wasn’t unduly diminished because of the technology. As the facilitators, we learned a lot from our first experience of hosting an online event. Subsequent feedback from the participants was positive and they were keen to do more in the future.

We followed this with an additional workshop in June which focussed on Approved Premises, and launched our new initiative Staying Connected – Emerging Stronger . Dave Grosvenor, Residential Manager of Stonnall Road AP, highlighted the different challenges of this environment for yoga teachers and the opportunities to support their rehabilitation and transition into moving back into the wider community. Four yoga teachers contributed with their experiences of teaching in this environment.

Our third event for teachers, was our annual silent retreat in October, with a day in meditation together online. Prison yoga teachers, were joined by our letter writers, volunteers and Trustees from across the country, to share meditation. By experiencing and deepening their own practice they are helped in their support of those inside.

“For the past few years, I have really looked forward to the PPT meditation weekend. This year was no exception even though it would be on Zoom. I don’t consider myself particularly well disciplined and so I use the fixed date as a goal to work towards.

Knowing that on the day there would be a series of sits then I would have to focus in the weeks beforehand to make sure that the day wouldn’t be wasted.

The PPT instruction said to sit regularly for at least two weeks before hand. This was an additional spur to practice. For me without such deadlines I would probably drift along with only intermittent sitting.”

Prison yoga teacher, Tony.

Keeping In Touch

The quarterly newsletter for prisoners is one of the cornerstones of our work. It keeps us in touch with prisoners, patients and ex-prisoners, as well as supporters, yoga teachers, and prison staff. In 2020 this became more important than ever as our other, face to face methods of communicating with these groups became impossible.

The main content of the newsletter is taken (with permission) from prisoners’ letters to our volunteers. They share the ups and downs of their spiritual journeys, their hopes, fears and breakthroughs. We hope that this offers the reader comfort that they are not alone in their experiences and hope that things can change, even in the most difficult circumstances. As the literacy rates in prison tend to be very low, we try to bear this in mind and feature a purely visual sequence that can be accessed by nonreaders at least once per issue.

Prisoners tell us that the newsletter makes them feel hopeful, motivated and less lonely by being connected to a healthy social network. While it’s geared completely toward prisoners, many friends on the outside who send donations towards our work include a note saying that they too draw hope and inspiration from the newsletter. We circulate around 10,000 paper copies each quarter, and a further 700 supporters and yoga teachers receive it by email.

Prison Media

Another way we keep in touch with those in prison is our monthly article in Inside Time, the prisoners’ newspaper. This continued unaffected through the pandemic, as our Communications Manager was able to keep working near-normally from home. These articles tend to be based around pictures and address specific conditions such as insomnia, bad backs, or anxiety. Inside Time has a circulation of over 60,000, so this allows us to reach prisoners who may not have heard of our work. We also offer yoga articles to other prison charities for publication if they request them, including Women In Prison and Prisoners Abroad. In January 2020 we started airing a new set of radio programmes on National Prison Radio, after completing three years of airing our first set in 2018. We receive many positive comments and requests for further help from prisoners who have heard the programme, and it can be a way for them to find us and request

An article from Inside Time

access to other services.

Social Media

Our social media platforms and website continue to do well and are growing steadily. Our best performing posts of the year included an image of a letter from a prisoner (below), and an image of an article we wrote for Inside Time and reshared for Mental Health Awareness week. Another very popular post was an image of one of our handouts and an announcement that they were now available for prisoners, which achieved a reach of 3,235 on Facebook. As a significant part of our audience on social media are yoga teachers, this was a great post to get so much attention. Twitter was also important in getting the word out about our handouts, and it was heartening to see so many organisations and individuals signposting to our work over the year.

One of our more successful social media posts of the year. On facebook this post reached 2,144 people and recieved 155 engagements.

PPT Scotland

We would like to thank our friends and donors in Scotland who have supported the work of the Prison Phoenix Trust in 2020. Your generosity in these unusual times is much appreciated. This support helps prisoners and prison staff in Scotland to receive the benefits of yoga and meditation. Particular thanks go to the M A Lascelles Charitable Trust for their loyal support. We would also like to thank Jim King, Head of Learning and Skills, Scottish Prison Service, for his offer of advice and support as we continue to encourage as many prisons as possible in Scotland to embrace the benefits of yoga and meditation.

As a result of the pandemic prisons in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, closed their doors to outside staff. Yoga classes, along with other communal activities, were suspended. At the time of writing we do not know when these restrictions will be lifted and regular weekly yoga classes will resume.

Prior to the pandemic classes were being taught successfully in nine out of the eighteen secure institutions in Scotland. This includes yoga and meditation classes in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and The State Hospital, Scotland’s two high security hospitals.

In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK and Ireland, the precious grants and donations we receive go towards producing and sending free books and CD’s to prisoners and prison staff and offering them support through on-going correspondence.

Prisons locked down in March 2020 and the focus of the Prison Phoenix Trust’s work changed dramatically. Yoga classes were suspended and prisoners were confined to their cells, for their own safety, sometimes for as long as 23 hours a day. We realised that the need for yoga and meditation in prison had never been greater. A number of prisons, some of which had never been in touch with the Prison Phoenix Trust before, came to appreciate the value of yoga and meditation to support prisoners confined to their cells as they struggled to cope with stress, anxiety, lack of sleep and cancelled family visits.

Despite the pandemic, the Prison Phoenix Trust has remained open for business, continuing to support prisons by sending out newsletters, free books and CDs to as many as prisoners as possible. We responded to requests from prisons for help by creating and providing free handouts for prison staff to download from our website and put in activity packs for prisoners.

During 2020 the Prison Phoenix Trust has continued to support prisoners in Scotland. We look forward to the time when yoga teachers will be able to go back into prisons and other secure institutions and offer the benefits of yoga and meditation in person to their prisoner students once again.

PPT Ireland

Claire Ferry is our volunteer Yoga Coordinator for Ireland. She provides a local point of contact for teachers enquiring about prison teaching and training. Claire has taught at Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison since 2014; and continues to do great work supporting a crossborder community of yoga teachers interested in prison work.

The Prison Phoenix Trust has continued to support prisons and yoga teachers during the pandemic through our accessible resources: newsletters, correspondence, free books and CDs, and by creating and providing themed yoga and meditation content for prison staff to download from our website and use in activity packs for prisoners. For yoga teachers, events moved online with weekly meditations sessions and themed workshops to help keep people connected.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has three prisons – HMP Maghaberry, Hydebank Wood College and Magilligan. Prior to the pandemic and regional lockdowns all held weekly yoga and meditation classes, funded by South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.

During the lockdown, the implementation of restricted regimes caused group activities for prisoners to be suspended in order to contain and prevent coronavirus infection. Prison yoga teachers and prison staff were able to support the yoga students and wider population through access to themed PPT yoga and meditation worksheets. These printable handouts were produced for download from our website in anticipation of a need to provide wellbeing content for InCell Activity packs for prisoners locked in the cells for up to 23 hours a day.

In the summer the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust allocated some of the unused budget for yoga to organise a series of Zoom classes for prison staff. The experienced prison yoga teachers were invited to teach three online sessions per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with access open to staff employed at all three sites on each day.

Republic of Ireland

Yoga teachers in the Republic of Ireland are supported by the Irish Prison Education Service, and benefit from an integrated approach to offering wellbeing, skills training and education to prisoners. Working alongside a small team of teachers of other academic and vocational subjects, yoga and meditation provision is overseen and supported by a Head Teacher within the School. Prior to the pandemic the Republic of Ireland had regular yoga classes in all prisons, with the exception of Castlerea.

Since the March lockdown was implemented, the Irish Prison Service’s testing and containment measures have resulted in only a small number of prisoners and staff testing positive, with no Covid fatalities to date (Jan 2021).

After the initial lockdown ended in May, Irish prison teachers reported various initiatives and some were able to teach smaller, socially distanced groups, in person, during the summer and autumn terms. Others provided activity sheets, recordings and newsletter content and made use of the PPT yoga handouts for their students and staff.

Volunteers

The Trust’s exceptional team of 24 volunteers are active in writing to prisoners and despatching books, CDs and the quarterly newsletters. They work closely with Trust staff, and are trained to use relevant and creative ways to encourage prisoners in their meditation and yoga practice. All are outstandingly generous in the time they devote to their work for the Trust.

The volunteers who write to prisoners have a daily meditation practice, which is essential if they are to empathise with those who practise meditation in a prison cell. They receive ongoing support and use our Letter Writers’ Manual to show relevant and creative ways to encourage prisoners in their Our volunteers took boxes of newsletters yoga and meditation practice. Letter writers into their homes to process so we could send are encouraged to keep advice to a minimum, by reflecting back to each inmate his or her them to prisoners in a Covid-safe way own words of discovery. Their letters are an essential support for many prisoners, who often otherwise struggle alone in prison.

Our volunteers continue to show great devotion during this unprecedented time and each week several mail sacks of correspondence leave the office destined to help prisoners all over the UK and Ireland.

Our online meditation retreat in October was open to yoga teachers and letter writing volunteers too, to help them deepen their own practice and be able to use this experience as they support their prisoner correspondents. We are planning two training days specifically for letterwriters during the coming year. One of these days will be focussed on maintaining boundaries during correspondence, and if the pandemic allows, we would like to visit a prison so that our volunteers have first-hand experience of the challenges prisoners face.

Reference and Administrative Information

Trustees

Giles Charrington, Chair of the Trustees, is a management consultant, a coach and therapist. He is also a Zen meditator.

Stephen Eeley is a former magistrate and senior administrator at Oxford University, and a member of the Oxford Zen Centre.

Penny Boreham is a radio producer and broadcaster and craniosacral therapist.

Jo Child is a yoga teacher and runs a series of high-quality yoga workshops with guest teachers in Oxford. She is a former staff member of the PPT.

Nicholas Colloff OBE was Oxfam’s Director of Strategy and Innovation and is now Executive Director of the Argidius Foundation. He is a PPT co-founder.

Peter Stevenson, Treasurer, is a chartered accountant who works for a number of charitable organisations.

James Mallett is an advocate of meditation, yoga and their benefits for people in prison and out.

Suzy Dymond-White is Governing Governor at HMP Eastwood Park.

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Suzy Stephen Jo Peter
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Giles Penny Nicholas James
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Key Management Personnel Remuneration

The Trustees consider that the Director and Deputy Director comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing, controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. The rate of pay for key management personnel is reviewed annually by the Trustees and set at a level commensurate with the market rate for similar roles in the sector.

Staff

Director (up to October 2020): Sam Settle was in this role from 2010. He joined the PPT in 2003 as a Yoga Coordinator and was a Buddhist monk and development worker in Thailand before that. He is a British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) teacher and a member of the Oxford Zen Centre.

Director (from October 2020): Selina Sasse (Full time) is a Yoga Alliance registered teacher. She has been a volunteer at the PPT since 2013, and then worked as one of our Yoga Coordinators. She teaches a range of classes specialising in yoga and meditation to help with life’s challenges and is also a Mindfulness Teacher and zen practitioner.

Deputy Director: Jason Doble is a former engineer. He is a Zen meditator and assists with PPT workshops. He manages the prisoner correspondence, and directs and guides our volunteers. Prior to joining the PPT in 2005, he was a volunteer letter writer for seven years.

Yoga Lead: Victoria Green (4 days per week) teaches yoga, including at HMP Grendon. She has been teaching in prison since 2011, and is also an Indian Head Massage practitioner.

Communications Manager: Lucy Ayrton (2.5 days per week) has a background in fundraising and marketing for arts and theatre productions. Outside the PPT she is an author and creative writing lecturer.

People & Office Coordinator: Laura Parrack (3 days per week) worked in communications before joining the PPT. She looks after the smooth running of the office and supports the wellbeing and development of the PPT staff.

Yoga Co-ordinator: Sally Buxton (2 days per week) is a BWY teacher and teaches yoga and meditation in HMP Eastwood Park. Before joining the Trust in 2011 she worked as a probation officer, both in prisons and the community. Sally is a member of the Oxford Zen Centre.

Consultant Systems Administrator: David Kennedy (2 days per week) is an IT trainer and consultant. He worked at a computer company in France, was a Software Team Leader at the Post Office in London, and worked at Oxford Brookes University.

Accountant (until December 2020): Clive Gillam (1.2 days per week) is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the charitable/voluntary sector in Oxford for nearly 30 years. Now semi-retired, he is also a Trustee of a local charity working inclusively with children and young people.

Accountant (from December 2020): Padmakumara Potter (2 days per week) has experience in all aspects of small charity management and administration. A practising Buddhist, Padmakumara runs Oxford Triratna/Buddhist Centre, teaching meditation and Buddhism to all who wish to explore them.

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Consultants

We are indebted to our consultants for their help and advice, which they provide voluntarily: Rev’d George Coppen, Anglican priest and former prison psychotherapist at HMP Grendon Imam Monawar Hussain DL, MBE, Imam of Eton College and founder of the Oxford Foundation

Professor Alison Liebling, Director, Prisons Research Centre at Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology

Martin O'Neil, Campus Governor, Irish Prison Service

Rachel Holmes, independent charity law consultant and researcher

Patrons

Dr Kiran Bedi

Mr Erwin James Sister Elaine MacInnes OLM

Sir Mark Tully OBE

Mr Jeremy Irons Mrs Shirley du Boulay Dr Sheila Cassidy Fr Laurence Freeman OSB Mrs Sandy Chubb

Dr Benjamin Zephaniah

Independent Examiner

Mrs D Pluck, Wenn Townsend, 30 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LE

Bankers

CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ Lloyds TSB plc, 1 High Street, Oxford OX1 4AA

The Co-operative Bank plc, PO Box 250 Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT

Principal Office

The Prison Phoenix Trust PO Box 328 Oxford OX2 7HF

Charity Number 1163558

Financial Review

The Trustees are pleased to present their review of the financial statements (pages 38 to 46) for the year ended December 31, 2020.

In 2020 total income of £314,530 exceeded expenditure of £279,154 to give the charity surplus of £35,376, considered an appropriate buffer during the uncertain time of the pandemic. This compared to unrestricted income of £335,442 and expenditure of £349,706 in 2019, that gave a deficit over the year of £14,264.

Of total funds in 2020, unrestricted income was £313,066, restricted income £1,464. Unrestricted expenditure was £276,772 and restricted expenditure £2,382. This leaves total unrestricted funds at the close of the year at £314,130 (2019 - £277,836) and restricted funds at £1,727 (2019 - £2,645).

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Income

The healthy financial situation reflects the generosity of a loyal base of grant giving trusts and individual supporters and a reduction in expenditure. Overall income from donations and legacies was very similar to 2019, £291,703 compared to £289,970. An increase in income from larger grant giving trusts and individual supporters was offset by a reduction in income from grants under £1000.

Individual supporters

The number of individuals – about 300 – donating to the charity on a regular basis continues to rise, with monthly, quarterly and annual donations through Standing Orders, the Charities Aid Foundation, Just Giving, Virgin Money Giving and Give As You Earn amounting to more than £64,837 per annum. With associated Gift Aid and other generous one-off gifts, the charity was in receipt of donations from individuals amounting to £170,259 in 2020. This amounts to more than 50% of total income from all grants and donations. Since much of this sum arrives through committed regular giving, the Trustees feel especially fortunate to have this support. The Trustees never take this generosity for granted and they and office staff work to ensure that such donors know how much they are valued. As such, fundraising with existing donors is limited to one letter per year from the Director to all donors in the Summer.

Impact from the pausing of yoga classes

There is very little overall impact on the financial income situation from the forced pause of yoga classes in prison, since the teachers are mostly paid directly by prisons. Additional income on the balance sheet is attributable to a trend for prisons to pay their yoga teachers through the Trust. This income is paid straight out to teachers so has little impact on the Charity’s financial situation, only our accountant’s time. With prison yoga classes largely paused, there was a drop in this income from yoga teaching fees – £10,501 compared to £33,582 in 2019. The corresponding drop in expenditure on yoga teachers reflected this, and the slight variance between income and expenditure is negligible, relating to when income and expenditure fall either side of the accounting period.

Expenditure

Changing some of our usual working practices, to reflect pandemic restrictions, had a cost

saving. For example, moving in-person events to an online format reduced expenditure on yoga teacher training workshops from late March. Also, our annual public education event was run as an online event, without venue hire. With prison yoga classes largely paused, staff time usually spent supporting teachers was reallocated to remote support of prisoners through prison staff. With our own teaching of prison workshops also paused, the expenditure on travel and accommodation was reduced. Reducing our number of salaried staff from eight to seven, when Selina changed roles, was also a prudent decision. With a restructuring of staff roles from October, the overall staff costs in 2020 were £183,468 – very similar to the £185,815 in 2019.

Volunteer Contribution

The Trustees remain ever grateful for the contribution made by volunteers to the work of the charity. We are particularly grateful that, where possible, our volunteers were willing to continue their vital work remotely. Throughout the pandemic, one to one support of prisoners through letter writing was able to continue. The newsletter despatch was also made possible by volunteers preparing envelopes from their homes and staff time in the office being reallocated. As in the past, the Trustees have not sought to put any monetary value on the hours that volunteers work with us each year but it would doubtless be a significant cost to the Trust if these tasks were not completed voluntarily. The generosity of our volunteers is valued by the Trustees immensely and has enabled the work to continue at a time when it has been needed more than ever.

Investment Policy

There are no restrictions on the charity’s investment strategy but the uncertain flow of funding for the Trust’s activities means that the Trustees do not consider making long term investments of surplus funds.

The operating surplus is currently being held in cash at bank and in hand, almost wholly in the

Charity’s current accounts. The funds held on deposit at December 31 2020 were £226,904 (2019 - £224,497). With some uncertainty around the financial impact of the pandemic, it is possible that the Trustees will need to access some funds that are currently held on deposit during 2021. However, it is hoped that there will continue to be an amount in the region of £200,000 invested in term deposit accounts at the end of 2020. The balance of funds held at December 31 2020 continues to be held mainly in a 30-day notice building society account, a 1 year fixed term Bank Deposit, and a cash account awaiting decision by the Board as to the length of fixed term to invest.

The Trustees continue to balance the need to maximize the return on investing surplus funds with the need to ensure these funds are available in the relatively short term should cash flow require it. The current balance of investment instruments is considered appropriate in meeting these two needs. When investments mature the Trustees look at the mix of deposit accounts held to ensure that the level of return and accessibility are taken into account before making any new deposits. The Bank of England base rate has fallen from 0.75% to 0.1% during the past 12 months so returns on deposited funds continue to be relatively low. At the same time, inflation is at a moderate level which makes the low return on deposits more tolerable.

The Trustees only deposit funds with financial institutions that are part of the Government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The amount of funds covered by the scheme is currently £85,000 per institution and the Trustees continue to take this limit into account when making decisions about the amounts to be deposited in any one bank or building society.

Reserves Policy

Budgeting and financial planning continues with a commitment to keep an adequate level of reserves. Supporters are regularly encouraged to remember the charity in their wills and so the Trustees remain hopeful that reserves will continue to be boosted by occasional bequests. There was one legacy in 2020 of £5,000. The total reserves at £315,857, £314,130 of which is unrestricted, will provide scope for much needed ongoing remote support of prisoners and to run workshops when possible again. Prisons have identified wellbeing as a priority and recognise the value of meditation and yoga practices, so we expect this demand to grow.

The total reserves should be seen in the context of the Trustees reserves policy which is that unrestricted reserves should not be allowed to fall below a minimum value of six months of unrestricted expenditure. To be prudent, Trustees continue to look to having a level of reserves between the value of six and eight months of such expenditure. Trustees have adopted a sensible and cautious budget in 2021, with a potential a deficit of £74,467. With ongoing uncertainty about the lasting impact of the pandemic, it is thought the Charity’s activities teaching in prisons may return to roughly normal levels only in the final quarter of 2021. The adopted budget will see a reduction of unrestricted reserves from £314,129 to £239,662. This is 11 months of 2021 expenditure, but just above 8 months of a normal trading year such as 2019. This, alongside such an uncertain operational environment, means Trustees see no reason to alter the reserves policy.

Going forward, it would be prudent to maintain reserves at this level, and will require budgets from 2022 that break even or show a modest shortfall in income against expenditure.

The Chair of Trustees and the Treasurer will continue in 2021 to be provided with monthly management accounts and the wider Board of Trustees receive quarterly financial updates for

consideration at Trustees meetings. Movements in reserves during the year are monitored in this way. The Trustees are fully aware of the need to set and achieve near breakeven outcomes for 2022 and subsequent years in order to maintain reserves at an adequate level.

The Trustees have set their reserves policy using the guidance on reserves provided by the Charity Commission. As such they recognise that any policy that is set needs to be reviewed to ensure that it remains appropriate in the light of the financial, political and economic circumstances in which the Trust is working. At present, the wider environment in which the Trust operates is expected to change as the prison estate adapts to the effect of the pandemic. The Trustees are satisfied that the reserves policy they have set for the Trust remains fit for purpose and consistent with the Charity Commissioners’ guidance on charity reserves.

Trustees’ Responsibilities in Relation to the Financial Statements

The Trustees are responsible for preparing a Trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the charity Trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income resources and application of resources, of the charity for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures that must be disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue its operations.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations, and the provisions of the Trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements.

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Giles Charrington June 8th, 2021 Chair of the Trustees

We would like to thank all who have supported our work throughout the 12 months to December 31 2020, and to acknowledge the financial support of the following individuals, trusts, companies and organisations, as well as those who wish their support to remain anonymous.

Donors whose financial support amounted to £5,000 or more:

David and Anna Mills The Tolkien Trust The Arm Foundation Porticus UK Inlight Trust

Donors whose financial support was between £1,000 and £5,000:

Mr D Ainscough & Mrs Alcue Valero The Whitaker Charitable Trust SS Finn Mrs J Leythorne Rosalind Wheare Yoga Matters The Roundton Trust Cherry Red Records Joyce Green Association DLM Charitable Trust Halcrow Foundation Ian MacTaggart Trust Mrs Lascelles Charitable Trust S C & M E Morland’s Charitable Trust Park Hill Charitable Trust The Calleva Foundation The Pelegrin Trust The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust The Whitaker Charitable Trust

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the Prison Phoenix Trust CIO

I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year to December 31 2020 which are set out on the following pages 38 to 46.

Respective Responsibilities of the Trustees and Examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Examine the accounts (under Section 145 of the 2011 Act);
Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act); and
State whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is expressed as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out below.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records ; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached

D Pluck Chartered Accountant June 4th, 2021

Wenn Townsend 30 St Giles Oxford OX1 3LE

Statement of Financial Activities

for the year ended December 31 2020

Note Income Donations and Legacies 2 Charitable Activities Yoga Teaching Fees Teachers' Workshops Sale of Books and Cards Investments 3 Other Total Expenditure Cost of Raising Funds 5 Expenditure on Charitable Activities 6 & 7 Total 8 & 9 Net Income/ (Expenditure) Transfer Between Funds Net Movement in Funds Reconciliation of Funds: Total Funds Transferred In 15 Total Funds Carried Forward 14 & 15	Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 2019 2019 2019 £ £ £ £ £ £ 290,239 1,464 291,703 285,105 4,865 289,970 10,501 - 10,501 33,582 - 33,582 468 - 468 3,905 30 3,935 4,009 - 4,009 1,793 - 1,793 3,537 - 3,537 3,103 - 3,103 4,312 - 4,312 3,059 - 3,059
	313,066 1,464 314,530 330,547 4,895 335,442
	22,181 - 22,181 25,471 - 25,471 254,591 2,382 256,973 311,758 12,477 324,235
	276,772 2,382 279,154 337,229 12,477 349,706
	- 36,294 (918) 35,376 (6,682) (7,582) (14,264) - - -
	36,294 (918) 35,376 (6,682) (7,582) (14,264) 277,836 2,645 280,481 284,518 10,227 294,745
	£314,130 £1,727 £315,857 £277,836 £2,645 £280,481

Balance Sheet as at December 31, 2020

Note Fixed Assets Tangible Fixed Assets 10 Current Assets Stocks 11 Debtors and Prepayments 12 Funds on Deposit Cash at Bank and in Hand Less: Current Liabilities Amounts falling due within a year 13 Net Current Assets Net Assets The Funds of the Charity: Restricted Income Funds 14 Unrestricted Income Funds General Funds 15	2020 £ 2,010 - 15,496 226,904 78,921	2019 £ 2,814 772 22,600 224,497 43,244
	321,321 (7,474) 313,847	291,113 (13,446) 277,667

	£315,857	£280,481
	1,727 314,130 £315,857	2,645 277,836 £280,481

The financial statements on pages 38 to 46 were approved by the Trustees on June 8th 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Giles Charrington Chair of the Board

Notes forming part of the financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020

1 Accounting Policies

(a) Accounting Basis

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 and the Charities Act 2011.

The Prison Phoenix Trust CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Trust’s ability to continue as a going concern.

(b) Depreciation

All assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised and valued at historical cost. The cost of fixed assets is written off using the straight line method of depreciation.

Office equipment and fittings 25% per annum Computers 25% per annum

(c) Stock of Books

The stock of books, that is held for free distribution to prisoners, is valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value.

(d) Income Recognition

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Donations and grants are recognised when the charity has been notified of both the amount and settlement date.

Legacies are recognised on a case by case basis following the grant of probate and when the administrator/executor for the estate has communicated in writing both the amount and settlement date.

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be reliably measured by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank or deposit taking institution.

(e) Expenditure Recognition

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings. The allocation of support and governance costs is analysed in note 6.

(f) Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the expenditure heading for which it was incurred.

(g) Cost of Raising Funds

The cost of generating funds consists of staff costs, subscriptions to online fundraising sites, fundraising advertising and associated costs.

(h) Charitable Activities

The cost of charitable activities includes governance costs and an apportionment of support costs as shown in note 7.

(i) Volunteer Time

The value of services donated by volunteers is not reflected in the accounts.

(j) Taxation

The Trust is a registered charity. It is not, therefore, liable for tax on income derived from its charitable activities.

(k) Fund Accounting

Unrestricted Income Funds

Unrestricted Funds are funds which the trustees are free to use for any purpose in furtherance of the charitable objects. These comprise a general fund plus designated funds set aside out of unrestricted funds by the Trustees to provide for planned projects and other known contingencies.

Restricted Income Funds

These are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor.

Further details of each fund are disclosed in notes 14 and 15.

(l) Pensions

The Charity operates a defined contribution scheme for the benefit of its employees. The costs of contributions are written off against income in the year they are payable.

2 Donations and Legacies


ations and Legacies Grants of £1,000 and over Other Grants Gifts from Individuals Legacies Events Tax Recoverable on Donations Total	2020 2019 £ £ 103,276 87,116 13,168 20,938 153,856 144,614 5,000 22,250 - 485 16,403 14,567
	291,703 289,970

One legacy of £5,000 (Judith Morrison Dec'd) was received during the year.

3 Investment Income

All of the Charity's investment income of £3,537 (2019 - £3,103) arises from money held in interest bearing deposits and other bank accounts.

4 Net Outgoing Resources

This is stated after charging: Depreciation Independent Examiner's Fees t of Raising Funds Staff Fundraising Admin Fees Event Costs Travel and Meetings	Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds £ £ 21,879 - 302 - - - - -	2020 £ 804 1,575	2019 £ 402 1,498
		Total December 31 2020 £ 21,879 302 - -	2019 24,827 612 1,032 32
	22,181 -	22,181	26,503

5 Cost of Raising Funds

6 Analysis of Governance and Support Costs

The Charity identifies the costs of its support functions and of its governance function. Having identified its governance costs, the support and governance costs are apportioned between the main charitable activities undertaken (see Note 7) in the year. The table below shows the basis for apportionment and the analysis of support and governance costs.

Books & Events Equipment and Other Asset Costs Offce Accommodation Offce Costs Salaries, Teacher Fees & Consultants Other Staff & Volunteer Costs Meetings Independent Examination	General Governance Total Basis of Support Apportionment £ £ £ 148 - 148 ) 3,675 - 3,675 ) 31,111 - 31,111 ) Allocated as 15,804 81 15,994 ) a % Based on 19,456 4,802 24,203 ) Time 2,206 - 2,206 ) - 11 11 Governance - 1,575 1,575 Governance 72,400 6,469 78,923

	Total		£	204,431	243	12,806	506	1,336	50	67	302	6,469	52,944	279,154
	HMP Ranby	Fund	£	451	-	809	-	-	641	-	-	-	-	1,901
	Oxfordshire	Fund	£	480	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	480
Yoga	Teacher	Support	£	37,558	-	6	-	-	-	-	38	809	6,618	45,029
	Teacher	Workshops	£	21,225	-	-	38	-	-	-	31	647	5,294	27,235
	Public	Education	£	28,334	243	-	-	-	-	-	45	970	7,942	37,534
	Prisoner	Counselling	£	43,700	-	973	129	1,336	50	-	75	1,617	13,236	61,116
Prison	Workshops	& Support	£	35,292	-	-	314	-	-	67	60	1,294	10,589	47,616
	Newsletter		£	37,391	-	11,018	25	-	(641)	-	53	1,132	9,265	58,243
				Salaries, Teachers & Consultants	Events	Offce Costs	Other Staff & Volunteer Costs	Publicity	Stock - books, CDs, etc	Teacher Workshops	Other Fundraising	Governance	Support Costs

8 Governance Costs Staff Independent Examiner's Fees Travel and Meetings Miscellaneous Costs 9 Total Resources Expended Yoga Teacher Costs £ Charitable Activities 11,418 Cost of Generating Funds - 11,418 Staff Costs Comprise:- Salaries Staff Social Security Costs Pension Costs	Unrestricted Funds £ 4,802 1,575 11 81	Restricted Funds £ - - - -	Total December 31 2020 £ 4,802 1,575 11 81	2019 4,757 1,498 57 180
	6,469	-	6,469	6,492
	Staff Costs £ 161,589 21,879	Other Costs £ 83,966 302	Total December 31 2020 £ 256,973 22,181	2019 £ 324,235 25,471
11,418	183,468	84,268	279,154	349,706
			2020 £ 162,735 13,069 7,664	2019 £ 164,716 13,348 7,751
			183,468	185,815

The average number of staff during the period was 1 full time and 7 part time (equal to a total of 5 full time staff). No employees received emoluments of more than £60,000 per annum (2019 - None).

The total remuneration of the key management personnel - the Director and Deputy Director - including employer's National Insurance and Pension contributions was £88,193 (2019 - £85,416).

Computer Equipment £ 7,086 - -	Offce Equipment £ 9,067 - -	Total £ 16,153 - -
7,086	9,067	16,153
7,086 - - 7,086 -	7,746 - 804 8,550 2,010	14,832 - 804 15,636 2,010
-	2,814	2,814

10 Tangible Fixed Assets

11 Stock

Postage Printer and Franking Machine Cartridges Stationery 12 Debtors and Prepayments Tax Recoverable on Gift Aided Donations Rent, Service Charge and Utilities Prepaid Rent Deposit Prison Teacher and Workshop Expenses Insurance Payroll 13 Creditors: Amounts Falling due Within One Year Tax, National Insurance and Pensions Independent Examiner's Remuneration Consultancy and Yoga Teachers Postage Charges Telephone, Utilities, Printing, Photocopying and Service Charges Workshop Expenses 14 Restricted Funds Dee Opp Oxfordshire Whitaker Trust Equipment Fund HMP Ranby Fund £ £ Balance at January 1 2020 234 1,016 1,395 Grants, Donations & Workshops - (536) 2,000 Direct Charitable Expenditure - (480) (1,902) Balances at December 31 2018 234 - 1,493 Represented by: Bank and Cash 234 - 1,493	2020 £ - - -	2019 £ 435 237 100
	-	772
	2020 £ 3,027 6,195 5,675 - 495 104	2019 £ 3,209 6,195 5,675 7,007 514
	15,496	22,600
	2020 £ 54 1575 0 2500 845 2500	2019 £ 3,118 1,500 2,115 3,000 1,213 2,500
	7,474	13,446
	Total 2020 £ 2,645 1,464 (2,382)	2019 10,227 4,895 (12,477)
234 - 1,493	1,727	2,645

234 - 1,493	1,727	10,227

The Whitaker Trust Fund is restricted to activites at HMP Ranby. As Yoga classes could not take at Ranby in 2020 they permitted funds to be used for Nottinghamshire Prisons. The Oxfordshire Fund is restricted to activites in the county. As classes could not take place the donors requested that the balance of previous grants be returned.

estricted Income Funds Balance at January 1 2020 Incoming Resources Expenditure Transfer to Designated Funds Balances at December 31 2019 Represented by: Fixed Assets Current Assets Creditors	Unrestricted Designated Unrestricted Funds Funds Funds December 31 2020 2019 £ - 277,836 277,836 284,518 - 313,066 313,066 330,547 (276,772) (276,772) (337,229) - - - -
	- 314,130 314,130 277,836
	- 2,010 2,010 2,814 - 319,594 319,594 288,468 - (7,474) (7,474) (13,446)
	- 314,130 314,130 277,836

15 Unrestricted Income Funds

16 Financial Commitments

As at December 31 2020 the Trust has annual commitments under non-cancellable leases of

leases of
	Land and	Land and
	Buildings	Buildings
	December 31	December 31
	2020	2019
Length of Commitment	£	£
One Year	5,675	22,700
Two to Five Years	-	-

17 Trustee's Remuneration

No Trustee (Nil - 2019) received or waived any emoluments in their role as Trustees during the year. No Trustees were reimbursed for out of pocket expenses (Nil - 2019) in their role as Trustees in the year .