HM Prison Send was formerly the site of a smallpox isolation hospital which closed in 1952.[3] In 1962, it opened as a Junior Detention Centre.[4][5] It remained as such until 1986 when it was re-classified as a Category C Adult Male Training Prison.[6] In 1998, it became a women's prison, and was demolished and rebuilt the following year.[7][8]
In August 2005, a report by the Independent Monitoring Board criticised a marked increase in self-harm and suicide amongst inmates and lack of staff, whereas it praised the prison's education provision and its farms and gardens scheme.[9]
The prison today
Send is a closed prison for adult females. It houses an 80-bed Resettlement Unit, a 40-bed Therapeutic Community, a 20-bed Progression Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE) and a 20-bed Preparation PIPE.
HMP Send's Education Department runs Key Skills courses and NVQs in Business Administration. The Farms and Gardens department offers Floristry NVQs, and the Works Department run an industrial workshop and painting party. Prisoners held in the Resettlement Unit can also do voluntary work, attend College courses and Work Placements in the outside community.
