Hana Bosworth, who is studying Forensic Psychology, spent her placement year with the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) at HMP Gartree in Leicestershire.
As a student family engagement worker, she helped organise family days for prisoners, created activities for their children, and was involved in casework and courses. Hana also came up with a ‘feeling board’ so the children could express their emotions using superhero characters.
Now she has won the Student Placement of the Year award at Pact’s 125th Anniversary National Volunteering and Citizenship Awards, where she also met Princess Anne.
The 21-year-old, from Northampton, said: “It was nice to get recognised as I did work hard. When I won my award, they mentioned the mood board. The CEO of Pact had sent it to all prisons as an example of what a student had done. Now they might take it up in other prisons.”
Hana found her placement – which she undertook between Autumn 2023 and Spring 2024 – very rewarding as she got to make a real difference to families’ lives. “There was one prisoner who hadn’t seen his son for 20 years. His son contacted us as he just wanted to know if his dad was there. They were reconnected,” she said.
As a category B prison, Gartree has many prisoners serving life sentences. They can struggle with family ties. Hana added: “There are around 250 prisoners at Gartree who don’t get any visits at all. It can be quite hard, especially when they want to reconnect and the family member doesn’t. You have to tell them it’s not going to happen.”
But when families were reunited, prisoners were often grateful and thanked Hana for her efforts. She would talk to them, call their relatives and help arrange themed family days. The activities included puppet shows and crafts. It gave the children a chance to interact with their dads, uncles or grandads and maintain relationships.
Hana was nominated for the award by her manager at Pact, Hannah Woods. The final-year student said: “I chose the placement because I wanted to see if that environment was one I wanted to work in. It definitely is. It opened my eyes and taught me a lot.
“This year, we are doing a lot on prisoners on my course. The placement has shown there are different sides. Obviously, the prisoners had done some horrible things and you had to keep that in mind. But they are just people at the end of the day.”
Pact is a national charity that works with offenders and their families. It provides services at every stage of the justice process, including court, prison and in the community.
Nominating her, Family Engagement Manager Hannah Woods described how Hana had been a “massive help” to the team. Feedback from families had shown they also really appreciated her support “when they needed it most”.
Hannah said: “She really has shown great enthusiasm and put her all into every job or task that has been set. She has gone above and beyond.”