What was your first impression of HMP Wandsworth when you arrived in ’95?

David Jones (DJ)I remember it as being old, dark, dirty and rat infested. The inspection team coming to the prison soon after I arrived; they said in their report that it was a Victorianbuilt prison, appeared to have a very strict regime and added that it was not a very pleasant place to live or to work. The yard parties were always fighting a losing battle, food and rubbish was being thrown out of the windows so the outside wasn’t very nice and certain areas of the prison were not in a good state of repair; not every cell had integral sanitation and a massive refurbishment program was required in many areas to improve working conditions for staff and the living conditions for prisoners.

The prison when I arrived 14 years ago had a demoralising atmosphere that impacted on both staff and prisoners.It is not like that now. If a person walks into a prison that is kept as clean as possible they are more likely to react positively and respect their surroundings rather than if the prison is left with rubbish and clothing that is only cleaned up periodically.They will not care about throwing litter or stubbing out cigarettes on the floor instead of using the bins provided.It’s a natural reaction.

So what happened to start the improvements?

DJ On the appointment of Governor Ian Mulholland ,one of his early instructions to my line manager Dave Asker was to improve the environment for staff and prisoners in the jail.

Did the grills on the windows have an impact on the cleanliness of the prison after they were fitted?

DJ Work started at the back of the kitchens about nine months ago where there were a huge number of pigeons and it wasn’t very hygienic around there with food, clothing and bedding being thrown out of prisoners cells daily. It was also the main storage area for the prisons waste bins. Emptying the rubbish bins was then the responsibility of the residential wings,but due to shortages of staff they were not able to do this on a daily basis.When the grills were fitted the job was reassigned to the yard parties so freeing-up the wing staff to carry out more of their wing duties.This has worked much better, we put a system in place to make sure the bins were not being overfilled and by emptying them twice a day we have reduced the number of times that the rubbish compactor was breaking down as it was not being operated correctly by wing staff with few control measures in place to stop items that were not suitable being put in there.

In fact by doing this we found we had spare storage capacity so that when the compactor has broken down,we are able to cope for two or three days without a build up of too much rubbish.We had a similar problem to this ten years ago at the weekends when the main kit change was done with some dirty laundry being left under the Heathfield Centre for over 48hrs which was not very hygienic and the smell was awful.This highlighted the need to me to ensure that in my areas of responsibility that all rubbish and dirty clothing needs to be moved away from the residential areas as soon as possible. In my time at Wandsworth one of the best kept areas within the jail was the Onslow Unit accommodating long-termers who seemed to have more respect for their surroundings and kept the unit clean and tidy. Onslow has keptup their standard but now it has been matched,even overtaken,by other units in the prison where staff and prisoners have worked hard to improve their surroundings but there are still some individuals who persist in throwing food out to feed the pigeons whose numbers are in decline but they still manage to make a mess which has to be cleaned up.

It’s a long journey from rat infestation to winning prizes with garden presentations! What were the beginnings of that?

DJ It started from the closure of the laundry in December 2005 and the need to create employment for the prisoners and staff working there.It was decided that a Gardening party would be created employing 10 prisoners and a member of staff be redeployed to supervise them taking over the management of the gardens from the Estates department in February 2006.They began by making flower planters from re-cycled material (old wooden pallets) and they began working on and improving the existing green areas around the prison by creating new gardens. This was achieved with a part time officer supervising prisoners on a three day week.That spring the flowers appeared and it just developed and developed. The original garden areas came back to life around the admin block followed by another around the hospital and we have placed planters around the prison and onto the exercise yards. We were given some funding which accelerated the process and were able to install two very large planters outside the prison itself. The rewards for all the hard work has been to win a ‘Wandsworth in Bloom’ award for the last three years, in 3 different categories; the last one being the ‘Best Blooming Public Building’ and four London Green Corners Prizes.We are now in the planning stage for this year’s Open Gardens Weekend. I’m not an expert gardener, all the expertise and hard work came from the staff and the prisoners involved. On one occasion when we were being judged for an award,I was escorting the judges around the prison, one of them informed me that he had never been in a prison before and was apprehensive about what he thought would be a daunting experience, but when he saw the garden that greeted him he said to himself ‘Wow’ and then felt more comfortable. Now it’s not unusual for official visitors to remark favourably about the gardens when they visit.

That was very commendable but I guess the general clearing had to go on?

DJ The prison grounds are so vast,the work is continuous and done almost exclusively by prisoners. At first I was worried about the possibility of the gardening work being vandalised by prisoners not involved, as it is not appreciated by all,but there has been very little of that. Some prisoners allocated to gardening work knew nothing about the job when they started. It is satisfying to see most of them getting stuck into the work and eventually becoming very knowledgeable and confident about the work they do.That can’t be bad for resettlement issues can it? In the early days we were lucky to have two prisoners who knew their way around a garden. They helped establish growing schedules and passed their knowledge on,and so the rest who could then begin to understand the work being carried out.They have proved to be role models for the other prisoners in many ways.

In recent years the gardens party has been managed by OSG’s who have carried on the work.They are not been trained gardeners, but individuals who have shown they have the ability and aptitude to complete the work and improve the gardens. They have also been willing to learn, gaining accredited gardening qualifications with the prisoners they supervise.

From where do you get the plants?

DJ So far from HMPs Ford and Leyhill but we hope to become self-sufficient ,this will not happen overnight. We are planning to build some greenhouses, a poly-tunnel and garden sheds. A lot of agencies have come to us offering help and support,the Eden Project in Cornwall being the latest .They have asked us to take part in one of their projects at the Chelsea Flower Show growing plants for the garden they are creating based on Homelessness.

I think it’s wonderful that an inner city prison might have the knowledge and skill to exhibit at Chelsea. How far has that initiative progressed?

DJ I have just discussed with the project leader what they want us to do and we have already started setting up an area for this to happen.We also have other projects, we are working with the Visits Centre to put in a learning and sensory garden for prisoners’ families; always depending on the funding of course. A garden designer from the Eden Project has expressed an interest in taking this forward and we are hopeful that we may be able to use parts of the garden that will be displayed at Chelsea.

We have also completed a project for our training school Clark House so staff there have a garden to enjoy.That was designed by a prisoner and built by prisoners and staff using re-cycled materials. The garden was also created for children from Linden Lodge,a local special needs school for them to plant, grow and enjoy gardening.

Is re-cycling part of your remit and if so how does it tie in with all the other tasks you are responsible for?

DJ It was important to get re-cycling properly organised.We have set up a partnership with Wandsworth Council.There are lots of people living,working here so things wear out,or get damaged which have to be replaced. That leaves the unserviceable item without a home. As far as mattresses and furniture that need to be disposed of (which wing staff are responsible for getting these unwanted items to the re-cycling centre) and we can assess furniture to see if it can be repaired, and with mattresses we issue them with a chit so they can get a replacements from the stores.That makes sure things are not just dumped anywhere. We then recycle or dispose of them, we can even mend some things.Take a locker,for instance,if a prisoner rips off a door and we issue another the cost is £80 not counting the overheads involved.But if we can fix it then that is a saving as well as employment for prisoners.

We are always looking to increase prisoner employment with new initiatives.Work is a key factor in the rehabilitation process .It has also been acknowledged that Gardening can be beneficial for people suffering from a mental illness.

Thank you, David, for taking time out to speak with the Review.