Belmarsh II

Plans have been drawn up and are on their way to Council committee for a new purpose built prison to be built along side Belmarsh prison for around 600 inmates.

The total prison population in England and Wales has increased by nearly 50% since the start of 1993. The figure stood at 64,837 on 31 May 2000 - of which 12,000 prisoners are in overcrowded conditions.

Projections are that the prison population will increase to 73,000 by 2007.

In 1999, 17% of the prison population where young men aged under 21, and there is currently a requirement for 1400 places in the Greater London area for under 21s sentenced & on remand. HMYOI Feltham provides 865 places.

The site for the new prison is the MOD site between the Belmarsh Prison and Hadden Road. Full planning details are available at the Planning Department for Greenwich Council located in Peggy Middleton House, Woolwich New Road.

Please pray for this. There is a great opportunity for the new Chaplaincy and Prison Fellowship to impact the young offenders in our area and see lives changed.

To see what the Prison Service has to say about the YOI prison proposal, please visit their site

If you would like to join a local Prison fellowship group, or just find out more about the organisation, then please email Prison Fellowship or snail mail :

PO BOX 945,
Maldon,
Essex
CM9 4EW