Bracton Centre wins 13 Koestler Awards

Koestler awards

Service users at the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit, have won a fantastic 13 Koestler Awards.

The Koestler Trust is the UK's best-known prison arts charity. It has been awarding, exhibiting and selling artworks by offenders, detainees and secure patients for 47 years. Its awards receive over 5,000 entries a year - inspiring entrants to take part in the arts, work for achievement and transform their lives. Its national exhibition attracts 10,000 visitors - showing the public the talent and potential of people in secure settings.

This year there were a record 5,867 entries - a 14 percent increase on last year, with 150 selected for exhibition.

At a special awards ceremony held at the Bracton on 18 November, Development Worker Hayley Sothinathan from the Koestler Trust said: “Out of 50 entries from the Bracton you achieved 13 awards – four of them gold. There were a total of 100 golds for the whole of the UK, so I call that ridiculously good!”

Director of Forensic and Prison Services and Bexley Mental Health Services, John Enser, told the participants: “The number of awards the Bracton achieved is absolutely phenomenal. It’s great to see you utilising creative talents you may not have been aware you had - I am so proud of you.”

You can visit the Koestler Awards 2009 exhibition at the Southbank Centre, London, until December 6 2009. For more information, visit www.koestlertrust.org.uk

Large photo

From left, Patsy Fung, Head of Occupational Therapy at the Bracton Centre, John Enser and Hayley Sothinathan.

Published on 20th November 2009