Pact is working with Booktrust to Support rehabilitation and promote respect and equality through family ties, the arts and literacy.
This exciting new project funded by the Arts Council aims to bring live literature to people who do not ordinarily access the arts, including the children and families of people in prison. It will take the form of a multilingual storytelling performance which will tour 10 local authorities: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Middlesbrough, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Bradford, Kirklees and Cardiff.
There will be two performances at community centres in each of the local authorities and two performances in prisons serving these areas. The performances will be open to all, but specifically hope to reach Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi and Somali speakers, to help them succeed in school.
The workshop will be run by trained artists, who will perform an interactive story to children and families that relates to the communities being targeted but will be accessible to all.
Prisons across England and Wales hold a disproportionate population of black and minority ethnic people (27% in prisons compared to 9% in the general population), including prisons on the tour enables us to reach an increased number of children from these communities.