Isle of Wight Older Prisoners Forum document signed

The CAF programme on the Isle of Wight (IOW) was pleased to deliver one of its first objectives when the Governor of HMP IOW, Barry Greenberry, signed the constitution of the Older Prisoners Forum on 17 May 2010.

Governor Greenberry said he was delighted to be signing the constitution and as a partner in the programme HMP IOW is fully behind the aims and objectives.

The forum aims to promote the welfare and interests of older prisoners at HMP IOW and provide a platform where matters of concern to and for older persons may be raised and suggestions put forward to appropriate officers or departments, including the Governor where required.

The forum chair at present is Stuart Ware, a consultant on the IOW CAF programme and himself a former prisoner and now self-declared older person. Dr Ware has also written and spoken extensively on the needs of older prisoners and was a researcher on the former Department of Health (Offender Health Branch) funded Older Prisoners Project.

The CAF programme is looking to build on the outcomes from the DH Offender Health project to realise personalisation in the prison environment and look to develop the links between statutory and voluntary services to support the individual's journey through health and social care services.