The View has arranged an online art auction and virtual exhibition to raise funds for the second edition of the View Magazine, a magazine for women trapped in the criminal justice system.
Here is a podcast about The View:
This short video was produced yesterday to help promote the auction.
Hopefully it will serve as a publicity vehicle and more people will subscribe to the magazine.
Here is some more publicity about the magazine.
COVID19 has hit independent magazine The View Magazine’s sponsorship revenue. 13 leading UK artists have stepped up and donate original artwork
● IncarcerationNation a virtual exhibition and online auction, will go online on 8 May 2020 to support the summer issue and continue this important platform for women in the criminal justice system to continue running
● The View Magazine is written by women for women in the criminal justice system, dedicated to our solicitors, advocates, families, friends and supporters
●80% of women in prison have a mental health issue, 50% are victims of abuse
Women need advocates for rehabilitation and reintegration if the cycle of offence and incarceration is to end, art is a proven route to rehabilitation
The View is the only magazine of its kind in the UK containing content written by women prisoners and those on license in the community (with contributions from their families, lawyers and supporters). Created by women in the prison system, the artwork shows the value of creativity for wellbeing and rehabilitation, as well as how it is a profound vehicle for communication and connection.
The second issue focuses on the COVID 19 crisis in women’s prisons and solutions for women to stay safe and healthy with recipes by celebrity chef Ruby Tandoh, using ingredients available to buy from prison canteens. We have also published a letter women can use, with legal advice and links to solicitors who will act for them pro bono, to seek compassionate release on the grounds of vulnerability during the pandemic, for underlying mental health and physical health issues. Appeals Barrister Matthew Stanbury guides women through how to write a grounds of appeal against sentence, in terms that are accessible.
The art speaks to truth, honesty, and power, at the same time as being vulnerable. It’s not just cathartic or therapeutic – the art shows real talent.
As well as providing necessary diversion and emotional escape, art permits the women to express themselves and re-establish their own identity. The art features strong women, identity, psychology and the roles played in society.
Following a successful launch in March of The View Magazine, our partnership and sponsorship team forged good contacts in the legal fraternity for our second issue, in June. Supporters and contributors of The View were interviewed on BBC Radio London and the first issue has had coverage in The Times, Big Issue, Huffington Post and Uncommon Ground Media. Our campaigns to raise awareness of the issues women are facing under COVID 19 and 24 hour lockdowns in prisons were covered on BBC News, Channel 5 News and the Today Program.
The magazine is distributed at no charge to serving women prisoners. We couldn’t have foreseen the COVD-19 crisis and its impact on fundraising. We set up a community interest company last month and none of our staff take a salary. All the contributions go to printing the magazine and disbursing funds to women prisoners for their contributions. COVID-19 struck and the world was tipped off its axis. Promises of support were withdrawn, emails were left unanswered and the business community collectively stopped answering its phone. The View rapidly looked as if it might fade forever from view.
Following the kind donation of a piece of art from celebrated artist Bob and Roberta Smith, our determined partnerships director Simon Burgess reached out to other artists to extend their generosity, and now we have amassed museum quality art from among the UK’s top artistic talent.
More on the magazine:
“The View is an essential and beautifully produced toolkit for women prisoners to survive prison and come out unbroken. I am proud to support this venture and I believe it will equip women and the larger public to become more informed about the state of the women’s estate and the issues such as being hundreds of miles from their children and families that women prisoners endure,” Baroness Uddin, the magazine’s Patron.
“Women in prison are uniquely powerless because they are detained in places that are largely designed and controlled by men. The View is a great idea, it advocates for women in prison and will be a force for positive change to bring prisoners and those who run them together through creativity.” – Ian Acheson, former prison governor and Government Terrorism Expert
“We loved the mag at Downview [women’s prison in Surrey], it was such a breath of fresh air. It tells it like it is and the extra money will be handy when I am released. At last someone is hearing what is happening to us, because The View is the truth. We feel like we have someone to turn to and someone who knows the answers and who doesn’tjudge us like some of the charities that come in here, telling us how it is. You lot know, you lot have been here, in our shoes.” Maggie, prisoner, HMP Downview
Human rights violations are becoming the norm in this country. It is often the authorities who help to deliver them.
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