For most New Zealanders, Christmas and the summer holiday season is a time of sun, fun and relaxation.
For the families and friends of prisoners, Christmas and the long summer holidays can be lonely, difficult and sad – a time when the need to be together takes on added importance.
Onsite family and cultural days can be a blessing for those affected by an offender’s imprisonment.
“Far from being a soft option for offenders, they are a real opportunity for families to maintain whanau relationships and repair the damage caused by what can be sudden and lengthy separations,” says Hawke’s Bay Acting Prison Manager Yvonne Fuller.
“Offenders’ children can suffer significant distress when mum or dad is sent to jail so allowing families to interact in the yard over lunch is important. It enables them to relax, enjoy each other’s company and to stay in touch.
Apart from ensuring that their unit or the chosen location is in pristine condition the prisoners also fund the cost of meat, hangi or other special foods from their trust accounts or unit welfare fund. The kitchen provides salads and (dessert) fruit that the prisoners would normally be served for lunch.
Approved visitors begin arriving around midday, aware of the rules and the need to obey them. All contraband items, including food, are strictly banned and there is a limit to the number of visitors that each prisoner can invite. Powhiri are held in appropriate environments to welcome visitors and in December, Pacific Island prisoners at Wellington prison provided performances lasting several hours.
Family and cultural days are held three or four times a year by individual units willing and able to bring in additional staff to supervise 
prisoners and manage the risk of contraband entering the prison.
Yvonne says in the days leading up to the event prisoners will often ‘self-police’ because they know what’s at stake and don’t want to lose the privilege of seeing their families in the most normalised environment possible for them.
Families and friends of offenders serving sentences at Wellington Prison were treated to spectacular performances during a family and cultural days leading up to Christmas.
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ISSN 1178-8453