Spotlight on...Gwyneth Reynolds

You’ve volunteered for Spurgeons Children’s Charity’s Invisible Walls Project. Could you tell us a bit more about this?

Spurgeons Invisible Walls is a family support service based at HMP/YOI Winchester, a category B/C prison. Spurgeons works to support fathers in custody in a range of ways inside the prison.

I am a volunteer at the visitors’ centre, which acts as a hub for family support. We provide information and support for children and families when visiting their loved ones to ensure that the experience is less stressful and more positive – especially for children.
We provide a play area and encourage children to draw pictures and leave messages for their relatives, which we display in the play room.

We provide literature for parents and carers which can help with managing a family’s needs, in particular those of children who may be confused and bereft.

What’s your professional background?

I am a retired social worker. I have been a trained volunteer with a youth counselling service and a child bereavement counsellor with the ‘Saying Good Bye Project’ in Kingston upon Thames. I have a BA from the Open University and hold a diploma in social work.

What made you want to work with children of offenders?

As a social worker I came into contact with families who had been affected by offending behaviour. Imprisonment can have a profound effect on the family, and many struggle to cope with the huge changes they experience when someone goes to prison.

Children are particularly vulnerable because of their lack of understanding, and can experience trauma and loss. Spurgeons at Winchester prison enables me to use my
skills and to help and support those children and families.