I went inside Wolverhampton prison to see art made by inmates with a powerful message of hope

A new piece of art created by young prisoners to raise awareness of knife crime and youth violence has been unveiled at a Wolverhampton prison.

The Phoenix sculpture was officially unveiled at HMP and YOI Prison Brinsford on Wednesday (June 10) as the latest part of Project Ray of Hope, a major youth violence prevention initiative in the West Midlands.

Project Ray of Hope is led by the James Brindley Foundation, set up after the 26-year-old fitness instructor was fatally stabbed in Aldridge in 2017, and was established with backing from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour and knife crime.

The sculpture was created by inmates at Brinsford under the tutelage of artist Luke Perry, a creator of many notable sculptures and artworks across the Black Country, and is the centrepiece of a full garden area.

Mr Perry said he had worked with the young prisoners and asked them to work out what they wanted to do, with the Phoenix statue chosen as a way to represent rebirth and and the hope that changes can be made when they come out of prison.

He told the Express & Star: “I approached the prison because I thought it would be a good place to start with the target audience, as if you want to start the way people think about youth violence, then talk about it with people who have been involved in this.

“Mark Brindley [James Brindley’s father] commissioned me to make the big artwork and he has been completely supportive of the decision to come here, because it’s ground zero for where you want to be tackling the problem.

“The people who have made this seem to be kind, gentle and thoughtful people and the things they have done are not in line with what they are, so they’ve needed to step away from that and this has been part of their recuperation.”

The unveiling of the Phoenix was also a chance for Mark Brindley, founder of the James Brindley Foundation, to take a first look at the statue.

He said: “It’s very impressive and a great monument to a change in young people’s lives. I love the symbolism of a Phoenix and an expectation of a new life and the engagement that the young people have shown in producing this is fantastic.

“For them, rehabilitation is key and should be thorough enough and important enough for them to make a new life without resorting to criminality.

“I do hope it can inspire people as it shows that the prison is forward thinking and really putting substance behind rehabilitation and engagement and this is on the back of Project Ray of Hope, which was off the Knife Angel coming to Walsall and how I decided that Walsall needed to have a symbol of its own.”

The Phoenix statue stands on the site of a fully restored area on the prison grounds, with a large garden surrounding the statue, as well as a falconry and bird area at the back.

The governor of the prison, Darren Hudson, said the sculpture showed the work to help rehabilitate the young people in the prison.

He said: “As the governor, it’s easy when I’ve got good staff who are dedicated to make a change. This came from the staff and the vision has grown to where we now have the garden and we had the idea to try and grow more awareness about the dangers of knife crime.

“When I first saw it, I said ‘wow’ as it’s all come together and it’s now a massive focal point in the prison and means, for years to come, we can bring more awareness about knife crime.

“It’s called a fearless Phoenix for a reason as this is about lads at their lowest ebb when they’re in custody to make the changes to their lives going forward, as it’s all about education.”

The project had also been a source of pride for the inmates taking part in it, with one saying it had been introduced as a competition with other prisons and had helped them to learn new creative skills.

He said: “The instructors told us about the idea and they put their foot forward and told us what we’ve got to do.

“I’m quite proud of all of us, myself and my team, and it’s been nice to see the progression from where we started to what it’s become.

“When I first started, I had no experience of anything like this, but now I feel like I really enjoyed it and it was a fun thing to do.”