On Tuesday May 14^th 2013 Cayman Island Chief Officers Mrs. Mary Rodriguez, JP, Ms Dorine Whittaker, JP, Mr. Eric Bush, JP, and Mr. Kevin McCormac, JP, were present at the Government Information Services Conference Room to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a prison awareness programme.

The programme is based on the “Prison Me No Way!” programme in the United Kingdom (UK) and Jersey. The programme aims to raise awareness of the most prevalent types of youth crime and the causes, consequences and penalties to enable children and young people to make informed decisions to help them grow into responsible and productive citizens.

The government officers taking part were representing the Ministry of Education, Financial Services and Employment, Ministry of Community Affairs, Gender and Housing, Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, Judicial Administration.

Also there were representatives from the not-for-profit Youth Anti-Crime Trust.

The “Prison Me No Way!” (PMNW) became a registered charity in 1995 called The No Way Trust after the huge success of the PMNW from 1993.

Prison officers who wanted to make an impact on the lives of young people and turn them away from crime and its consequences, using highly innovative educational techniques, set PMNW up. It provides a quality service to help young people make a success of their lives and stay safe using innovative and fresh approaches that encourages positive decision making, designed to reduce or remove the possibility of offending behaviour.

The Trust’s core aim is to raise the awareness amongst young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime, and the effects of antisocial behaviour.

The No Way Trust has so far reached over 4.5 million young people through the hard work and sheer determination of its volunteers.

In the UK the Evening Standard published this article on 22^nd April 2013 written by Anna Davis, Education Correspondent:

Children should get lessons in prison life to stop them becoming involved in crime, according to the Duke of Westminster’s daughter.

Lady Edwina Grosvenor, who has dedicated her life to prison reform, today called for the classes to be included in the national curriculum.

She said that teaching primary and secondary school children about the harsh reality of jail would deter them from committing offences.

Lady Edwina, the wife of TV historian Dan Snow, said: “We’re up against this idea that prisoners get luxuries like televisions — we show them the reality. I’d love to see this (prison lessons) in the national curriculum.”

In an interview with the Evening Standard, she also criticised cuts which have led to youth centre closures.

Lady Edwina, whose father is Britain’s richest landowner and Prince William’s god parent, said: “In austerity Britain a lot of youth services have taken cuts of up to 75 per cent.

“Closing youth centres and chucking children back out on the streets means they don’t have an outlet. There’s also a wealth of research that shows children need role models. You can’t just expect them to know how to behave.”

Lady Edwina was speaking to mark the 20th anniversary of The No Way Trust, a charity she supports which was set up by prison officers and gives talks in schools.

They use role play and a mobile prison cell to educate children about the impact of crime and anti-social behaviour.

New figures reveal that its innovative approach has led to a significant drop in crime by 10 to 17-year-olds. Youth crime in Greenwich dropped by 18 per cent between 2010 and last year. Crimes fell from an average of 231 a month to 190. Serious youth violence also fell from 203 offences to 113.

For more than 14 years Lady Edwina has worked in and around the prison service including at Styal women’s prison in Cheshire.

The social reformer, who has a degree in criminology and sociology, helped start The Clink, the first in a range of fine dining restaurants located inside prisons. She said: “A lot of people  are shocked because of my background.

“But I felt I’ve got all this amazing wealth and privilege and I’m utterly passionate about what I do. My parents haven’t put pressure on me one way or another. But they’re thrilled at the work I do.”