1 Nov 2018

Bedtime Stories: recordings by mothers and grandmothers behind bars

From Afternoons, 1:39 pm on 1 November 2018

University lecturer Kerryn Palmer lives close to Arohata Women's Prison in Wellington and sees it every day. Now she's going inside to record inmates reading stories for their children and grandchildren with a programme called Bedtime Stories.

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Photo: Facebook / Bedtime Stories From Inside

Similar programmes are underway in other countries and Kiwi actor Miranda Harcourt first trialled it at Arohata back in 2014.

Now thanks to Kerryn, the programme is up and running again.

Kerryn Palmer

Kerryn Palmer Photo: Victoria University of Wellington

With the help of a Boosted fundraising campaign, Kerryn hopes to roll out Bedtime Stories to prisons all over the country, starting with the men's facility Rimutaka Prison.

A team of three people visit the prison – two facilitators and a theatre technician.

It's a low-pressure session, but it can get quite emotional, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, Kerryn says.

It only takes a couple of hours but it's a huge thing for the family members and the children.

"Kids put the stories over and over again. They just want to hear their [mum's or grandma's] voice."

The inmate will also record a spoken message to the child at the beginning or end of the story which is then put on a Cd and write a message in the accompanying book.

So far, the books have been donated by Joy Cowley's Clean Slate Press, but to expand the programme they will need to be able to buy books, Kerryn says.

While they have plenty of volunteer facilitators, the role of the technician - who records as well as edits the story – is quite a big job and they'd like to pay the person.

Also, there'll be administration costs involved with rolling it out to a number of prisons.

People can donate books as well as money to Bedtime Stories as long as they're new or nearly new – not too scruffy, Kerryn says.

Last year the Bedtime Stories programme received an Arts Access Award.