Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre is close by Heathrow and was built in 2004 to cat B prison standards and used as a short term holding facility for immigrants by the UK Border Agency. The establishment has a capacity of nearly 400. In this piece we talk to Ms Kath Bridon, the Assistant Director for Regimes, who has a history of caring for young offenders and at Colnbrook manages the gym, the library, arts and crafts and other meaningful activities. She has been in post since August ’08

I’d like to talk about the gym first if that is agreeable; is the gym used predominately for recreation or does it have a deeper significance like to obtain qualifications, or for drug or mental rehabilitation?
Kath Bridon (KB) As you know there are many benefits of exercise and it’s certainly one of our most popular activities especially so in the weights section of which there is a high demand in the afternoon and evening sessions. The guys like doing that and it has always puzzled me….I guess it’s the macho thing! Our team sports are also popular, these include football, basketball and circuit training, we are in the process of  developing these more for the evening sessions. So mostly it is used by the guys on a daily basis for exercise; the deeper significance, of course, being that it educates them in terms of healthy living and also develops self-confidence. The PEIs are all trained officers most with a lot of experience of the custodial situation, they understand how the centre works. That helps when it comes to developing relationships, engaging and understanding the stresses that people here are experiencing. PEI’s go into the units and encourage the guys to visit the gym.  The detainees also a visit to the gym as part of the induction process.