Maria Arpa
This week
Greetings from Portland Prison
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
A great start to 2025
Last week and this week we are in Portland Prison training a new cohort of Facilitators. And what an amazing start. 9 new trainees across a range of ages and cultures, are taking their first deep dive into the Dialogue Road Map.
Comments and remarks like, ‘I’m blown away by how language can change how everyone reacts’, ‘it’s made me think about things I’ve done that I could have done differently’, to ‘I can’t wait to learn more about how to help people’, and ‘This is going to help me be effective in jail’, is the sort of feedback that makes this work compelling.
We were joined by some of our DRM Practitioner Training graduates from 2019, 2020 and 2024 who are volunteering to support the wellbeing of the Facilitators.
And, we have two of our original cohort. These two facilitators have been conducting one to one sessions with prisoners who are struggling, and mediations where needed, and they have created a demand for the service that needs a proper team in place. Alongside the staff who have welcomed Peaceful Solutions, the amazing No.1 Governor, and our hugely supportive staff member Becca, who not only did the training but co-ordinates the logistics, we are set to build a sustainable rehabilitative programme based on empathy, compassion and mercy.
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
Core to DRM is community. We learn and practice holistic care and reciprocation.
The Wednesday Whisper
Do you long for community? Where do you find community? Would you like to know more about our community?
If you would like to access more content, please visit our Youtube channel where we add content regularly.
If you like this blog please share it with others.