Hallowe’en camp at Shelton as part of Family Links Initiative

Our CEO, Dr Cliona Hannon was delighted to attend the launch of an innovative ‘Family Links’ project devised by the great Shelton Abbey team, focused on a children’s Hallowe’en camp at Shelton, to strengthen father-child bonds and enable mothers to take a well-earned rest.

The project is supported by funding from the Katharine Howard Foundation, as a strategic initiative from Shelton Abbey, to try to strengthen family relationships for people in custody.

Fathers in custody and their children made spooky decorations, got a sense of the beautiful environment of Shelton’s grounds and farm, and rekindled their relationships.

Children with a parent in custody experience loss, confusion, shame and stigma. This project aims to help to heal some of those wounds for the families and to give them hope for the future.

From left to right – John O’Callaghan, Deputy Secretary General, Department of Justice; Caron McCaffrey, Director General, Irish Prison Service; Saoirse Brady, Executive Director, Irish Penal Reform Trust; Katie Byrne, Irish Independent; Patricia Hayden, Trustee, Katharine Howard Foundation; William McNeill, Assistant Governor; Dr Cliona Hannon, CEO, Katharine Howard Foundation and Joe Donoghue, Governor, Shelton Abbey.

Please click the link below to read coverage of the event in The Irish Times, 01 November 2023 :
Kids’ camp in prison aims to restore family bonds before dads’ release