Bedford Row Family Project, Limerick was established in 1999 as a Mercy/Franciscan joint initiative to respond to the needs of families affected by imprisonment.  This was following research carried out in Limerick City to ascertain unmet needs in the area.

Initially the Project set up a hospitality area in Limerick Prison to offer support and refreshments to family members as they visit their loved one.  Our hospitality area has become a humanising feature to families as they try to maintain relationship with their loved one in an environment based on containment and security.

A city centre based premises has grown and developed, offering a skilled response to those affected by imprisonment.  In this we offer individual support in the form of one-to-one connection and counselling.  We offer group support in terms of life-skills to both men’s and women’s groups.  We have a particular focus on supporting children affected by imprisonment and our long term vision in this respect is to attempt to break the cycle of intergenerational imprisonment.  In terms of children we run children’s groups and play therapy with a holistic focus on also working with the adults in the family.

In the last number of years we work in an in-reach capacity with men and women in the care of Limerick prison.  Our work focuses on supporting them during their time of custody and maintaining family links with family on the outside.  We work in conjunction with the education department in the prison offering parenting programmes and in conjunction with Palls (Probation and Linkage Programme) in the delivery of Art Therapy for the women.  Our in-reach support continues on release as we support the men and women in the Limerick area to reconnect meaningfully with family and life on release.

In the last two years we have engaged a worker to work with members of the Travelling community in the Limerick area building trusting relationships that in the future we hope will result in positive outcomes.

A significant aspect of our approach is that we work in a partnership model with the Prison Service and other agencies in the city both statutory and voluntary.  Such a feature of working delivers a comprehensive and professional support to the people we encounter on a daily basis.

Eighteen months ago we were asked to support the replication of our approach in Ennis, Co. Clare.  Since then Bedford Row Clare has become established and is growing and responding to the particular needs in terms of imprisonment in the Clare area.

In Bedford Row Project we believe in a world beyond imprisonment, in creating safer communities and in making consistent efforts to understand the ‘why’ of imprisonment. Understanding the ‘why’ enables us to respond with the ‘how’ that we hope is meaningful and realistic.  The core of our ‘how’ is based on the trusting, understanding and accepting relationships that we place emphasis on establishing.