SIG Celebrates 10 Years
A Decade of Impact and Growth at Social Interest Group
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Since 1995, Safe Ground has been at the forefront of designing and delivering arts-based, therapeutically informed interventions within the criminal justice system and communities across the UK. As we celebrate 30 years in 2025, our mission remains rooted in supporting individuals to embrace positive change through connection and creativity.
Our work supports those affected by the criminal justice system in better understanding themselves, their relationships, and their behaviours, providing practical tools to navigate life confidently. Through creative interventions and services, we reimagine relationships and explore new approaches, supporting individuals and communities in unlocking their potential for growth outside of punitive systems.
Change begins in spaces free from shame and punishment, where people can make mistakes, explore their identities, and grow without fear. Change happens in spaces that value different perspectives and encourage shared understanding.
Our programmes and services help develop new communities, cultivating a sense of belonging and connectedness, vital for navigating the transitional spaces between who we are and who we are becoming. These connections allow others to support us as we move forward positively, ultimately recovering from punitive systems and criminal activity.
Our creative programmes use the arts and therapeutic practices in the criminal justice system to create spaces for growth, reflection, and community building. We champion alternative approaches within prison systems that reduce reoffending and support long-term, sustainable change led by those with first-hand experience.
Safe Ground’s Programmes, such as Fathers Inside, Man Up and Our Own Stories, explore gender norms, relationships, parenting and personal identity. Through creativity and group work, participants reflect on their past, reframe future goals, and build deeper self-awareness.
By prioritising relationships across everything we do, we explore positive relationships with ourselves, our families, and our communities. Progress begins by valuing and meeting people’s lived experiences in their current context without imposing external expectations or judgment.
SIG Safe Ground Family Service sets a new standard for family engagement in the prison system. At HMP Altcourse, our flagship Family Service is transforming how families and men in custody experience connection and support, facilitating up to 40,000 annual family visits. This pioneering initiative offers a unique combination of creative interventions for men in prison, bespoke family counselling, and daily practical support for families visiting their loved ones in our outside Visitors Centre.
Led by a dedicated Family Service Manager and a multidisciplinary team, the service redefines family support within the criminal justice system. Fostering collaboration between internal and external staff teams drives a cultural shift at HMP Altcourse and aims to influence the wider prison system and reform.
Throughout our work, we have learned that creativity is an inherent human tool for making sense of experiences, imagining new possibilities, and communicating needs effectively.
Our practice unlocks empathy, exploration, and transformation and is an approach often overlooked within the Criminal Justice Service. Safe Ground integrates a bold and ambitious artistic practice, acknowledging art as a transformative force for social change. We are developing action learning sets and bespoke training for prison staff teams and third-sector organisations. This innovative approach to learning promotes collaboration, skill sharing and new approaches with specific models adapted to the teams Safe Ground is working alongside.
In 2025, we will celebrate thirty years of using creativity and therapeutic support to drive change in the criminal justice system and beyond. Together with the men, women, and families we serve, we will reflect on our journey and address and respond to current prison crises and wider systems.
Through events, installations, creative projects, radio plays, and panel discussions, we’ll spark dialogue among those in prison and the broader community, exploring how to create safer ground for all.
To get involved, enquire about our programmes, or share ideas, contact Emma.Hulme@socialinterestgroup.org.uk
Celebrating a Decade of Collaboration and Innovation
