About Alpha for Prisons

What is Alpha for Prisons?

Alpha for Prisons is a fifteen-session practical introduction to the Christian faith, aimed especially at non-churchgoers and new Christians. The course is run successfully in all types of prisons and correctional institutions for both men and women and is also used in young offenders and juvenile institutions.

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How Alpha for Prisons Started

Alpha for Prisons was launched in 1995 in Dartmoor prison in the UK after the work of an inmate called Michael Emmett. He had been imprisoned along with his father after being arrested in the largest cannabis export case in the UK at the time. While he was in prison, his partner came to faith on an Alpha course in a church in London.

He noticed the difference in her and wanted to do the Alpha course. He asked the prison chaplain if he could phone the Alpha office at HTB, where Alpha started, and ask them to send a team to the prison to launch Alpha and help in inmate rehabilitation. As a result of the course, Michael, his father and many others came to faith.

During the next few years of his sentence he was transferred to several prisons. In each prison, he asked the chaplain to call the Alpha office to help them launch Alpha. 16 years later there are now over 700 Alpha for Prisons courses in over 70 countries around the world, all heavily involved in the rehabilitation of inmates. The course can be run over 10 weeks or in a shorter period of time depending on a prison's regime.

'Alpha sessions have become my favourite day of the week. I spend time learning and exploring my relationship with God and Jesus. I sing!  Something I thought I would never do again. It is so joyous and uplifting.'

Inmate (HMP Bullingdon, UK)