November 15, 2016

Ruby, Kyra and Alex’s stories

Ruby (7) lives in Liverpool with her Mum, older sister Katie and young brother Albie. Ruby is adorably happy and bright and misses her dad every day. A family man, her Dad Michael is one of the lucky ones; he’s in a prison that is only a few miles from the family home. Ruby loves visiting her dad and, thanks to the prison actively encouraging strong family contact, gets to see her dad on regular family days and intensive parenting programmes.

On BBC One at 10.45pm on Tuesday 15th November a BBC One documentary produced by True Vision highlights Ruby’s story and our work with her within our Prisoner’s Children  Family Impact service. The film follows Ruby and her family in the lead up to the hearing and for the first time hear from her imprisoned father about his thoughts on his arrest and his views on the future and how his decisions have affected his children.

Alex (11) and Kyra (8) also live in Merseyside with their mum. Bright and bubbly, both girls lead happy lives but admit that they struggled when, despite his promises to ‘be on his best behaviour’, their dad was sent to prison for the second time not long after his first sentence. Kyra struggled at school and Alex didn’t know how to express her hurt – but fortunately both girls were able to get some help from a Children in Need funded support group run by PSS. The girls have also had one-to-one sessions and thanks to the support the sisters are coming to terms with their dad’s imprisonment and are encouraged to tell him how they feel. As their parents are separated they don’t often visit their dad, but with this support they are getting more confident.

With True Vision’s expertise in heartfelt and sensitive child-centred storytelling, together with ground breaking access and compelling and amazing characters, this film promises to lift the lid on this hidden population of prisoner’s children and will force many to question the meaning of punishment and think twice about those who are affected.

Catch our team on ‘Prison, My Parent and Me’ at 10.45pm on BBC One on Tuesday 15th November 2016, or catch it on iPlayer.