Exeter prisoners in football scheme

They don't play away games

Inmates at Exeter Prison are part of a training programme based around football which claims to help stop them reoffending.

Exeter City Community Trust, the partner charity of Exeter City Football Club, runs the scheme, which is part of national initiative called the Twinning Project.

The initiative is designed to help prevent re-offending at the prison, which has just received a damning report from independent inspectors and is in the equivalent of special measures.

As well as training and development in the Victorian jail, Exeter City Community Trust supports prisoners with ‘living on the outside’, offering help and advice around housing management, employability and financial aid.

More than 60 Exeter prisoners have benefited from taking part in the scheme. 

To mark the end of the six-week course for the latest cohort, Exeter City first team player Sonny Cox visited the prison to present participants with certificates of achievement, alongside current governor Richard Luscombe and deputy governor Andrew Tanner.
  
Scott Walker, head of participation at Exeter City Community Trust, said: "“The programme enables participants to build self-confidence and knowledge, as well as practical skills for once they are released from prison. Aspects of the course also include guidance on how to communicate with people and engage with others in a positive way. All those who complete the course can build on it in the future.”
 
Twelve prisoners took part in the most recent programme. Two have left the prison and the remaining 10 who completed it between October and December last year received an accredited Developing Leadership Through Football Award from the FA.

Exeter City Community Trust trainer Scott Walker explains tactics (image courtesy: Exeter City Community Trust)
 
Wayne, who took part in the most recent programme, said: “The Twinning Project has been amazing, it has helped me with my state of mind, my confidence and grown me a friendship circle of inmates and a select few officers.
 
“In the first session we were given full kit which was great. It made us feel as one and part of the team. They are good people; it’s an excellent charity and it has been a pleasure learning alongside them.”
 
Mike Reece, physical education instructor at HMP Exeter, said: “It’s been rewarding to see the impact on the group who took part in the sessions. It really does show the power of football and, importantly, Exeter City, to help engage people.”
 
Launched in October 2018, the Twinning Project aims to bring together professional football clubs and prisons across the UK to use football as a catalyst for change. Through the programme, real opportunities are provided to better prepare prisoners for release, find employment and reduce re-offending which is a huge cost to the country and local communities.