Foundation Celebrates Opening of New Child-Friendly Space

Bright Horizons Foundation for Children is excited to announce a second collaboration with HMP & YOI Bronzefield, the largest women’s prison in the UK, to create a new outdoor Bright Space for children and young people.

The Importance of Bright Spaces

The Foundation creates and rejuvenates child-friendly areas for children and young people attending facilities such as prisons, domestic abuse shelters, women’s refuges and more. These spaces are designed in collaboration with service users and experienced childcare professionals to provide comfortable, child-friendly environments for young people experiencing trauma and adversity. Since 2005, the Foundation has established over one hundred Bright Spaces across the UK, supporting families facing a variety of crises.

This is the second Bright Space to open at HMP & YOI Bronzefield, and the seventh space to open this year. Changes to the space are intended to improve the prison visiting experience for young people, thereby encouraging them to visit and maintain important family relationships, ultimately supporting reduced reoffending.

Iain Colledge, Executive Director of Operations for Bright Horizons, who officially opened the new Bright Space, expressed his enthusiasm for the project: 

"At Bright Horizons, we believe in the power of creating safe, caring environments for children and families, especially during difficult times. The opening of this Bright Space at HMP & YOI Bronzefield is our way of making a meaningful impact on the lives of disadvantaged young people in our communities. We hope this Bright Space will make the prison visiting experience more enjoyable for children and young people visiting their family members. Thank you to the Bright Horizons community which fundraised towards the cost of the project and volunteered their time." 

Supporting Families in Need 

As a modern, purpose-built facility managed by Sodexo Justice Services, HMP & YOI Bronzefield serves women and their families from across the South of England. The prison's existing visiting spaces include a main hall and a family room, but the current outdoor area was underutilised and in need of upgrade. This partnership revitalised the space; key features include interactive activities, sensory play items, and improved seating arrangements to foster a more relaxed and enjoyable visiting experience for children and their families. 

Caroline Dixon, Family Support Worker at Bronzefield, highlighted the importance of this project: 

"We recognise how vital it is for children to maintain bonds with their mothers, even in challenging circumstances. The addition of this new Bright Space will further improve the visiting experience for families, by making visits more enjoyable and less daunting for children." 

Emma Charalambous, Perinatal Services and Mother & Baby Unit Manager, added: 

“It is so important to offer a fun, welcoming and fit for purpose outdoor space, especially for children coming to visit their family members at HMP Bronzefield. The families and visits team want to continue to progress how we support families and enhance the visiting experience for families and significant others. The opening of the garden and getting the environment right is a positive step forward for these plans.

A special thanks to the dedicated team at Bright Spaces who reached out to the team here to start fundraising for a new space after the great work they did with supporting the implementation of the Family Room.”

If you would like to know more about The Foundation and how you could get involved in supporting Bright Spaces, please visit our web page. Head to our social media pages to check out some of our spaces.