https://mailchi.mp/227c4fb0a5ee/bookmar ... nnon-trust
Please do read all the items and follow the links to learn about the help provided for prisoners and older learners.'It doesn't always have to be like this.'
Imagine this simple piece of advice being given to someone who couldn't read. What changes might be possible and what difference could it make if that person was in prison?
Jodie spent the first 2 years of her prison sentence frightened that someone would discover she couldn't read. Scared of making herself vulnerable to bullying, she hid her secret.
'Fear of failure was a big thing for me, it was a really big thing. Putting yourself out there to fail is scary. You've got embarrassment but failure, to make myself vulnerable, was something I didn't want to do.'
Life changed for Jodie when a fellow prisoner talked to her about reading.
'Another prisoner helped me, gave me the confidence to give it a go. They saw the potential in me, they spurred me on to be a better person.'
Jodie is now studying for an Open University degree. She's taken part in Inside Out courses alongside university students and is a teaching assistant. And she's helped other prisoners to learn to read.
'I love telling my story to encourage other women. Education is everything to me now, it opens so many doors even when you can read just a little bit. It's opened a door that before was closed off to me.'