January meeting

80 women joined us in welcoming Jacqui Wood from the charity “Fine Cell Work” as our speaker.  Jacqui has been a Fine Cell Work Volunteer at Wandsworth Prison for 10 years. Originally an actress, after the birth of her children she retrained as an embroiderer and taught for 20 years in adult education. Jacqui is an accomplished and entertaining speaker and her background as an actress shone through. Her talk was a joy to listen to.  Informative as well as moving Jacqui painted a vivid picture of bleak prison conditions and the tedium of prison life before describing the occupation, hope and enthusiasm the charity’s work offers the prisoners involved.  Started by Lady Anne Tree in 1997, Fine Cell Work is a Social Enterprise that trains mainly male prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework.  With high quality designs and workmanship, items produced by Fine Cell Work have been exhibited by the V&A, commissioned by English Heritage and sold to leading Interior Designers.
 
''Fine Cell Work is a charity that proves the Extraordinary can happen, even in an environment as bleak as a prison''  Times leader, December 2009