Storybook Dads, the charity based in Dartmoor Prison, has won its fifth major award in two years. The scheme won the category for Improving Health and Well Being at the National Health and Social Care awards hosted by Jeremy Vine in London last week. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt also attended the prestigious ceremony. Storybook Dads aims to maintain family ties between imprisoned parents and their children by sending the children a CD of the absent parent reading a story, complete with sound effects and music. Project manager Sharon Berry said: 'The link we provide between imprisoned parents and their children is a lifeline for many families. These children can be extremely traumatised by the imprisonment of a parent and this can lead to shame, depression and future mental health problems for the children. We aim to minimise this trauma.' The success of the idea is measured by the fact that the scheme has now been disseminated into 50 other prisons around the UK, including women's prisons. Storybook Dads has also provided advice and training to the army so they could follow the model — 'Storybook Soldiers' is up and running, providing a vital and intimate link for soldiers who are deployed overseas to keep in contact with their children.
