“It’s a working prison and not just a holiday camp”

Wednesday 09 June 2021

The public have been invited to the Les Nicolles Prison gardens, to see what goes on behind bars and learn about horticulture.

The Open Garden Event has been promoted as a "rare opportunity" to see and hear from staff and prisoners.

The prison grounds include a large area for growing vegetables, a couple of large greenhouses, a beehive, and a wild garden. The invitation to visit is for people interested in the work prisoners do and horticulture in general.

Pictured: People who are interested in going will need to get their tickets in advance.

The Head of Education, Training and Regimes, David Le Feuvre, hopes it will change people’s perception of what prison life is like.

“It’s a working prison and not just a holiday camp, which is how it’s sometimes perceived by the public,” said Mr Le Feuvre.

“It’s a prized job in prison, to be able to work outside. They have to work their way through other jobs to make sure they’re responsible enough."

Several chosen prisoners will be available to talk people through the work they do, as they tick off elements of their City and Guilds accreditation in horticulture. 

Pictured: There are nearly 100 inmates at Les Nicolles.

The pride and joy of the prison gardens is the vegetable growing area, which helps feed the prisoners.

“The main area is taken up growing vegetables,” said Mr Le Feuvre.

“As you can imagine, we go through a lot of veg with just less than 100 mouths to feed three times a day.”