Community project handmakes Christmas cards for prisoners

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's a project designed to deliver Christmas cheer to some of the nation's most isolated individuals. Two Adelaide women have made it their mission to collect 2-thousand Christmas cards for prisoners who'll spend this year's festive season behind bars.

Transcript

00:00Gathering at cafes and bars in Adelaide,

00:05these strangers have come together to spread some Christmas love.

00:09It's really a love project and a community care project.

00:13Writing from the heart and hand-decorating cards

00:16for those who'll spend the holiday period in prison.

00:19Receiving this token from someone who they don't know,

00:22reminding them that they're not forgotten.

00:24Hi! I'm good, how are you going?

00:27Dr Cunningham says inspiration for the card project

00:30came from the time she's spent with incarcerated people

00:33as a social worker and researcher.

00:36The kind of antidote to this stuff is actually about integration,

00:40is about humanisation, is about holding people.

00:43Di Brash has spent time in the Adelaide Women's Prison

00:46and knows just how isolating Christmas can be for those in jail.

00:51You feel like no one cares, especially at Christmas time.

00:56I'm putting hey you.

00:57Cute.

00:58She's contributed hundreds of cards to the project.

01:01Every single card that I write out,

01:03I'm thinking about being on the receiving end of that card.

01:05Had I ever received that, it would have meant so much

01:08because you feel so alone.

01:10Co-organiser Tabitha has also spent time in prison.

01:14When you're inside, that connection to the outside is critically important.

01:17She's now a passionate advocate for prevention.

01:21In order to keep people out of prison, we need to keep them in our community

01:24and that means investing in our communities.

01:26The project has grown every year since it began in 2023

01:31and the organisers say they'll continue to expand

01:34sharing Christmas wishes with the whole community.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended