JO is a 70-year-old grandmother who likes cooking, sewing and gardening, and loves living in the small rural village she has called home for the past five years.

She shops in her neighbouring market town and on weekends she enjoys time with her family - a son, married with two young daughters, and a daughter, aged 32.

One day a fortnight she jumps into her Ford fiesta and drives to the nearby high security prison, at Long Lartin, near Evesham, and talks to a convicted murderer.

She talks about his problems, his life "inside" and, sometimes, his crime. She is a friend, a listener, a sounding board. She is someone he can talk to in confidence, without fear of recrimination, or judgement.

But why does she do it? And what does she gain from it?

For Jo, personally - her real name has been changed for security reasons - it is a lot to do with her Christian faith. It is also about being a mother, and about putting something back into the community.

"We're not there to judge - the courts have done that - we accept them for who they are, not what they've done.

"So many of them have been dealt a hard life - let down in life. Sometimes there can be almost an arrogance about them, but it's just holding themselves together. Life in prison is something else.

"One young chap - 22 years old, in prison for murder - wept for days wishing he could put the clock back."

Jo believes there is a difference between "accidental" and pre-meditated crimes.

"Many crimes happen when they're drunk or on drugs. It's horrible when you talk to somebody who's there for life and they don't remember it at all. One chap murdered somebody when he was drunk and all his family deserted him.

"I don't excuse or condone what they've done - I try to understand where they're coming from."

Visitors are not told the prisoner's crimes before meeting them.

"Most of them will start to tell me after the second or third visit. Two of them told me in great detail - it was very hard for them. One chap who was very remorseful didn't tell me. So you don't know unless they tell you. And it's all confidential - you sign a confidentiality agreement.

"You're someone they can talk to about their problems who's neither family nor prison staff. You need to be a good listener."

She may talk about her own family, but she is careful not to go into specific detail.

"Some of them don't want to know about your life out of respect. Some want to 'adopt' a family. But you have to be careful talking about your own family. You need to be circumspect."

Security is tight, obviously, and meetings take place in large, open rooms, with low tables, CCTV cameras and guards. Certain prisoners, such as hostage-takers, are denied the visiting service.

There are quarterly meetings, when the visitors are given an insight into prison life through talks by prison staff, and Jo - who makes a commitment to the prisoner to visit every fortnight.

As a committed Christian, the idea of going to visit prisoners came to her "like a hand on my shoulder", about two years ago.

"I'd always thought about it when I heard the verse from Matthew, Chapter 25, read out in church, when Jesus says: 'I was in prison, and ye visited me not' (Verse 43).

"I had no idea there was a prison so near. I felt this was a door I should knock on, and it opened."

She is quick to point out, however, that it is not about a prisoner's faith.

"We don't go in to preach, we go in to befriend. I have a sense that it is part of my discipleship, but it's not theirs.

"You can make a difference. In the hour you have with them, you can make them feel they're somewhere else - obviously not physically, but emotionally. You're there to listen and accept them for who they are."

More than her Christian faith, though, it is being a mother that prompts Jo to do what she does.

"I feel, as a mother, that I am touching somebody else's son and hopefully making a difference. Everybody deserves compassion.

"I am not there to judge and we, all of us, make mistakes. But some make much deeper, more serious mistakes.

"But people should be helped - helped to move on - they are damaged people. We don't excuse what they've done but they've been dealt a hard life.

"If my son was inside, I would hope someone would be there for him."

Prisoners all have their ups and downs

OUT of sight out of mind is an expression we use often, but can we apply it to people?

The answer is a firm "no" from the Rev Peter Knight, chaplain of Long Lartin prison, near Evesham.

This week is Prison's Week, and Mr Knight says it is a time to remember those in prison, as well as those affected by crime.

"The point of this week is to remind people not to forget about those people out of sight in prison," said Mr Knight, who has been chaplain at the high-security prison for 18 months.

"It is important for people not to forget the responsibility they have towards prisoners.

"It is also a reminder that the church carries on in this environment. I am the vicar of Long Lartin and it's the job of the chaplaincy in any prison to make sure all prisoners have their religious, and pastoral needs met.

"For example, if a family member dies, the chaplain will go and tell the prisoner.

"They are a small community with their ups and downs, joys and sorrows - no different from any other group of human beings."

Mr Knight stressed Prison's Week focused on everybody involved.

And it is not confined to Christians. Buddhist, Sikh and Muslim faiths are also catered for at Long Lartin prison.

On the question of repentance, Mr Knight said it depended on the prisoner.

"It does vary as to how much a prisoner recognises what they have done," he said. "Prison's Week is a way of not letting them be completely out of sight, out of mind."

What can we all do to help prisons?

THE Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev Dr Peter Selby, is chaplain to the 74,243 prisoners in Britain. These are his views on Prison's Week.

This week is Prison's Week, when we are asked to remember those in prison, and all those who are involved with the prison service.

The Epistle to the Hebrews sets before us a demanding standard: to remember them "as though you were in prison with them" (13.3).

And in the parable of the judgement Our Lord makes the statement that in whatever way we are acting - or failing to act - towards those in prison, we are acting towards him.

Newspaper headlines and our own inner attitudes make it very tempting to distance ourselves from those in prison, but we are invited, by our faith, to see Christ and ourselves in them.

The question that comes up is "yes, but what can I do?"

The Churches' Criminal Justice Forum has produced a pamphlet with exactly that as its' title and you can download What Can I Do? from the web at www.ccjf.org.uk

It offers a variety of possibilities to meet our different gifts.

These range from visiting and practical work in prisons, assisting Chaplaincies, or campaigning on some of the issues to reduce crime and bring down the rising numbers of people being sent to prison by using alternative forms of punishment.