Parliamentarians Support Chess in Prisons

CSC’s Ben Wicks and Lord Timpson

Our Prisons Programme has been going from strength to strength of late: we now have nearly 40 coaches running chess clubs in 15 different prisons across the country. Another 5 institutions are waiting in the wings ready to start their clubs in the next few months. Chess is popular with prisoners and prison staff alike. Not only does it offer an engaging, purposeful activity which boosts confidence and self-esteem, it also encourages fair-play, accountability, and respect, improving the chances of rehabilitation when prisoners complete their sentences.

Our work in prisons also has the support of politicians including the Prison Minister Lord Timpson. On Tuesday 10th March the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group organised a chess event to highlight the benefits of our programme to a wider group of parliamentarians. CSC’s CEO, Malcolm Pein, COO Chris Fegan, and Prisons Coordinators Peter Sullivan and Ben Wicks attended the event in the Houses of Parliament, meeting MPs and members of the House of Lords and, of course, playing a few games of chess while they talked. The event was a great success and we look forward to organising some prison visits for the politicians soon.

If you work at a prison and would like to hear more about what we can offer, please contact us here. If you are interested in working as a prison chess tutor, we’d love to hear from you here - it’s tremendously rewarding work.