Bullingdon Community Connections develops collaboration with voluntary and community organisations to deliver purposeful activities in HMP Bullingdon.

These organisations provide invaluable support for reintegration and foster positive opportunities for men leaving prison. 

Purposeful activities are meaningful, goal-orientated tasks that help promote wellbeing, engagement and personal development. Successful purposeful activities have included chess, origami, choral work, rowing, mental health awareness, creative writing, and fine arts. These activities are engaging and adaptable for both group and solo participation.  

They encourage participants to build resilience and develop new skills, often instilling a sense of pride and positive self-identity. Purposeful activities prepare men for other key life goals such as securing housing, gaining employment, strengthening personal relationships and wellbeing.  

Enhanced life skills strengthen desistance and reduce reoffending. 

community connections
“People smile about it, people feel good that we have got this off the ground ourselves. People feel proud about it. This little pocket of brilliance when everything else is so different.”
Community Delivery 

Can you offer a purposeful activity to men in Bullingdon?  

It might be a weekly session or a one-off activity for small group. You might facilitate the group on your own, or with a colleague. Men regularly arrive and leave HMP Bullingdon, so participants may vary from week to week. Each session should be a self-contained activity, offering immediate value while building competence and confidence over time.  

Purposeful activity sessions take place on weekdays 09.00 -11.00 and/or 14.00 -16.00. 

“The project has worked both inside-out and outside-in. Not only are men much more connected to their local community, but we as Bullingdon are more connected.” 
How do we help? 
  • Bullingdon Community Connections assist by facilitating organisations’ work inside the prison, promoting the initiatives through the prison officers, and coordinating with support staff to run the events.  
  • We will guide and assist your team to enter the prison and ensure the experience is smooth and enjoyable for everyone.
  • Bullingdon Community Connections can, on occasions, offer financial and practical support to community organisations to help provide a purposeful activity in HMP Bullingdon. 
  • Bullingdon Community Connections also connect men with similar community organisations upon release, helping them continue your activities with meaning and purpose in their new environments. 
“Opportunities for men both inside and on release have really increased. The Bullingdon Community Connections team keep raising the overall standard of the services we can deliver."
Purposeful Activities have included: 
  • A community organisations fair held at Bullingdon for charitable and voluntary organisations so they can share their offer to Prison Officers and Support Staff.
  • Representatives from local charity and voluntary organisations attending “Men without Visits” days to provide opportunities for men to engage with them and their services.  
  • Workshops run by the Gardens Libraries and Museums Department of the University of Oxford.
  • A weekly chess club facilitated by a chess coach.
  • A singing group.  
  • An  origami club running in the prison library.
  • A poetry group.
  • Boats not Bars rowing programme.  
  • Two substantial prison garden projects – one at the visitor centre and the other at the drug treatment unit. 
  • Establishing a Departure Lounge where men who have been released can wait for transport, get refreshments, recharge mobile phones and pick up clothing and hygiene packs. They also have access to practical services, information and support. 
  • Worked with local accommodation to enable introductions to men before release and support introductions to other community resources.
“…it is so much easier for us to offer appropriate support if we have worked together before he leaves Bullingdon and moves into his community.”

If you would like more information about Bullingdon Community Connections, please contact us using the form below:

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