At the Prison Phoenix Trust, the first half of 2025 has been a time of quiet transformation and steady growth, rooted always in the shared strength of our community.
At our recent Away Day, the depth of connection across The PPT community was powerfully felt. We took time to reflect on how our small staff team has grown, not only in number but in spirit. With skill and care, existing staff have welcomed new colleagues, nurturing the distinctive and deeply held culture of the Trust. Their efforts have brought fresh energy to our work, energy that is already being felt by the people we serve in prisons and beyond.
The Prison Phoenix Trust’s new Impact Report describes a growth in demand for yoga and meditation in prisons at a time of huge challenge for prison staff – and the people their care.
Find out about the state of yoga in prisons in the UK and Ireland during a time of overcrowding and under-staffing. And see some of the people turning their lives around with support from The Prison Phoenix Trust.
The Yoga in Prisons Impact Report brings together statistics and stories of The Phoenix Trust’s work in 2024 in prisons, young offenders institutions, approved premises and secure hospitals, all made possible by the generous support of funders and volunteers.
Read about the impact of The PPT’s core services:
Group classes in trauma-sensitive, mindful yoga movement and meditation taught by certified prison yoga teachers trained and supported by the trust
Mentoring and support through one-to-one correspondence with experienced practitioners.
Peer-support by people sharing their in-prison and on release, yoga and meditation experiences with each other in our newsletter
Specialist resources including DVDs, CDs, books, hand-outs and digital content on in-cell devices suitable for a range learning styles and abilities
The Prison Phoenix Trust’s chair of trustees, Suzy Dymond-White,” says: “During a year of much change, we are proud to have maintained the level of one to one support offered by our staff and volunteers to those in custodial settings. Our yoga teachers continue to deliver classes within the custodial environment and the impact is far reaching. Our digital resources are proving popular with excellent feedback supports our belief that yoga and meditation have a profoundly positive impact on mood, sleep, stress, mental focus and peace of mind.”
“Our work continues to provide the valued provision of yoga and meditation to those coping with custody and supporting their rehabilitation. We remain forever grateful to those organisations, trusts and individuals who give so generously in many ways to ensure we can keep providing resources to those who live and work in our prisons.” – Suzy Dymond-White, chair of trustees
For Mental Health Awareness Week 2025, The Prison Phoenix Trust launched Give it 10 — a simple, effective yoga and mindfulness challenge for people in custody. The idea? Just 10 minutes a day for 7 days to support mental wellbeing.
The challenge was a hit, with 124 prisons and justice organisations across the UK and Ireland taking part. Prisoners and staff alike found it easy to access and genuinely helpful — especially for those new to yoga.
The Prison Phoenix Trust (PPT) continues to build its support for people in UK and Irish prisons, offering yoga and meditation as transformative tools for rehabilitation and mental well-being. With the recent addition of courses at HMP Liverpool and HMP Hollesley Bay, regular weekly yoga sessions are now available in 52 prisons.
New Prison Yoga Classes at HMP Liverpool
In April, HMP Liverpool began the first in a series of seven six-week yoga and meditation courses with a PPT-trained yoga teacher. Supported by the prison’s healthcare department, these sessions are tailored for:
Older prisoners
Individuals with neuro-diverse conditions
Men involved in behaviour change programmes
Peer mentors providing support to fellow prisoners
These classes are the first structured activity offered on Friday afternoons, a time when people are usually confined to their wings. This marks a significant shift toward improving the ability of people to use their time inside positively.
Positive Response at HMP Hollesley Bay
May saw the launch of four new six-week yoga courses at HMP Hollesley Bay, a Category D open prison in Suffolk. Within the first week, participation and enthusiasm were high. The PPT teacher noted, “It looks like it’s going to be very popular,” as people quickly began encouraging others to join.
Pictures by Andy Aitcheson of yoga in HMP Maidstone
HMP Maidstone to Begin New 8-Month Yoga Programme
Starting in August, The Prison Phoenix Trust will deliver an 8-month course of weekly yoga classes at HMP Maidstone in Kent. This follows a successful 42-week programme held over the past year, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from both prisoners and staff.
Four classes per week will be taught in the prison gym by experienced teachers with deep knowledge of yoga’s benefits for mental health and personal development.
Testimonials from HMP Maidstone
Participants have shared inspiring feedback:
“Before I came down with tension and my body is very tired. Then during yoga I feel relaxation starting and afterwards I sleep really well – the only night I sleep during the week. I wish yoga was every day!”
“I feel good, relaxed and comfortable after yoga.”
“Peacefulness.”
A staff member highlighted the programme’s impact: “The sessions are very popular and effective; with noticeable improvements in individuals’ self-esteem, mental health, and social skills. The development of compassion, patience, and trust they are building through yoga is strengthening their ability to reintegrate into society after release.”
Yoga in Prisons: A Growing Movement
There are now 132 weekly yoga and meditation classes running across prisons in the UK and Ireland, all led by teachers trained or supported by The Prison Phoenix Trust. These sessions aim to reduce stress, improve sleep, and foster emotional resilience among participants.
In addition to group classes, prisoners can request:
Specialist yoga books
CDs and DVDs for in-cell practice
One-to-one written mentoring with experienced PPT volunteers
These resources help support ongoing personal development and mindfulness practice, even outside class hours.
About The Prison Phoenix Trust
The PPT is a UK-based charity dedicated to bringing yoga and meditation to prisoners as tools for inner transformation, emotional regulation, and positive change. Their trained teachers and volunteers offer support across the UK and Ireland, working closely with prison staff and healthcare teams.
This month The Prison Phoenix Trust was invited to contribute to a round-table discussion in the Houses of Parliament aimed at shaping impactful policy for women in the prison, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sport and Physical Activity in the Criminal Justice System. Joining our yoga lead Victoria and prison yoga teacher Sandra was Lisa, who writes eloquently here about her experience of yoga in prison.
Excerpt from ‘In-exhale’ by Benjamin Zephaniah for The Prison Phoenix Trust
12 April 2025 will be the first ever Benjamin Zephaniah Day to celebrate the life and legacy of ‘the people’s laureate’. It’s being marked by a Festival of Rhythm, Unity and Revolution, which will be held at Brunel University, where Benjamin served as Professor of Creative Writing. The PPT will be present alongside a host of other organisations who worked on causes dear to the late poet’s heart.
Here we look back on our relationship with the beloved poet, writer, actor and activist, and honour his memory. Continue Reading
Do you have a passion for helping prisons support the rehabilitation of people in their care – and their reintegration into society? Prison yoga charity The Prison Phoenix Trust is seeking new trustees to join our Board.
Who we are
We are an award-winning yoga charity in the UK and Ireland, with 37 years’ experience sharing meditation and yoga with people in prison. We offer personal support to prisoners and prison staff through teaching, mentoring, peer-support and specialist resources. We work with people of any faith or Continue Reading
Celebrity chef and businessman Levi Roots offers advice to people trying to stay healthy in prison, drawing on his own experience of serving time inside.
If you have ever wanted to look and feel amazing, both in mind, body and spirit, I am here to tell you that it is possible to achieve it. Perhaps you have had doubts, lack of confidence or simply unable to focus and maintain an exercise program until you can see and feel the true benefits. Continue Reading
We spent a day with Emma, who teaches yoga and meditation to particularly vulnerable children aged 15-18 in a young offenders institution. The boys have various and complex needs, including neurodiversity, learning disabilities, special educational needs, behavioural problems, and lots of trauma. Some are serving long sentences of 15 years or more.
Emma arrives with a big bag of yoga mats at a block is made up of 4 wings, each with 12 cells down one side, doors opening out onto a carpeted communal area with a couple of sofas, tables and chairs from which windows look out onto the grounds, including a pond. There’s a staff office on each wing.
Being key-trained, the yoga teacher is able to move around freely, greeting prison officers, staff and the young offenders. She moves from wing to wing to see who’s available for yoga.
On the first wing we visit, officers ask us to come back later as “things have kicked off over lunch and there’s rice and peas everywhere.” At another wing a young person, Daniel*, was waiting with his mat ready for a yoga class, but staff asked us to come back later as there was an incident underway in one of the cells overlooking the yoga space, where staff were trying to ‘talk down’ a young person in the midst of a mental health crisis. Continue Reading
Ahead of the Women and Justice: A New Direction summit in London this week, the award-winning Prison Phoenix Trust (The PPT) has emphasised that addressing the mental health needs of women in prison is a fundamental aspect of justice reform.
And it is sharing the latest findings from its mindful yoga and meditation programmes delivered in two women’s prisons throughout 2023 and 2024.
According to recent government statistics, 82% of women in prison report mental health problems, and one third of women in prison engage in self-harming behaviours. This highlights a pressing need for effective interventions to support mental wellbeing.
The summit will explore key solutions for reforming justice for women and follows prisons minister James Timpson’s recent announcement that he aims to close a women’s prison in England or Wales, redirecting offenders to alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation. The event will bring together influential thinkers, activists, and practitioners to discuss the future direction of justice for women.
To coincide with the summit, Selina Sasse is sharing data from 11 mindful yoga and meditation courses run by The PPT. The results of these programmes, which involved women in two prisons participating in weekly 2-hour yoga and meditation sessions, reveal the significant impact these practices have on mental wellbeing and their potential to aid in rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society.
By The Prison Phoenix Trust CEO Selina Sasse
The Prison Phoenix Trust’s new 
What’s in the Pack?
Do you have a passion for helping prisons support the rehabilitation of people in their care – and their reintegration into society? Prison yoga charity The Prison Phoenix Trust is seeking new trustees to join our Board.
Celebrity chef and businessman Levi Roots offers advice to people trying to stay healthy in prison, drawing on his own experience of serving time inside.
We spent a day with Emma, who teaches yoga and meditation to particularly vulnerable children aged 15-18 in a young offenders institution. The boys have various and complex needs, including neurodiversity, learning disabilities, special educational needs, behavioural problems, and lots of trauma. Some are serving long sentences of 15 years or more. 