We're proud to share the 'HADES x Women in Prison' Blanket.
Our first collaborative project of 2025 (& our first homeware piece!), we have teamed up with Women in Prison a national charity that delivers support for women affected by the criminal justice system. 100% of the gross profits from sales (this is total revenue minus the cost of the wool used in the blanket and the labour costs to craft the blanket) will be donated to support the charity's important work.
Women in Prison's work highlights that the root causes of crime are mental ill-health, domestic abuse, insecure housing and poverty. Most women in prison are there because of the inequalities that they face, with nearly two thirds having experienced domestic abuse and the majority of women reporting mental health problems.
The blanket design was brought to life through a workshop run by working with Women in Prison at HMS Styal (Cheshire, England). 15 women created designs inspired by the topic of Public Protest, for the changes they’d like to see in wider society and within the prison system.
We collated elements of their designs to create a blanket rendered from the text of a poem written by one of the workshop's attendees alongside hand-drawn eyes drawn by another. Eyes were a recurring motif in the group's designs, with many women speaking of being watched.
Like Women in Prison, we advocate for effective community programmes that address issues including mental health, housing and poverty, all of which are often at the root causes of offending to help enable women to make permanent changes in their lives. This method has a proven record of reducing crime and re-offending.
Women in Prison is a national charity that supports women affected by the criminal justice system and campaigns to end the harm caused to women, their families and our communities by imprisonment. The charity has a long history of highlighting and supporting women of all classes and different backgrounds.
Women in Prison's founder Chris Tchaikovsky was moved to take action by what she experienced when imprisoned in HMP Holloway in the 1970s. Tchaikovsky saw that the specific needs of women in prison and the damaging effect prison sentences were having on women were completely missing in public and political discussions.
Over 40 years on here are some of the ways that Women In Prison continues to support women affected by the criminal justice system:
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Women's Centres – These centres provide women with a safe space and are a 'one-stop-shop' offering advice and information in housing, parenting support, debt and domestic violence.
- The Bluebird Service – A project that engages with women within prison prior to their release. The service provides 1:1 community support in the form of training, education, employment and health.
- Mental Health Advocacy in HMP Bronzefield – Specialist staff work with women referred to them by the Mental Health In-Reach team to provide bespoke, intensive support.
