€15,000
Young people in difficulties
2024-2025
Young people in difficulties
France
Transforming the lives of young prisoners through reading and basic skills.
The aim of the association is to reintegrate detainees (held 22 hours a day in cells) by teaching them basic skills through personalised programmes, initiatives to maintain family ties, group activities and a library. The project supported by the Air France Foundation in the French Overseas Territories aims to reacquaint young people with reading and writing in a context where 1 in 2 of the prison population is illiterate. The programme enables each young person to choose a book and receive individual support each week from a volunteer. Comic strip workshops are also organised for 13–17-year-olds. Support for maintaining family ties is also provided through the ‘Lire en famille’ (‘Reading with the family’) programme, with the creation of places for families to meet. These initiatives help young people to regain their independence and self-confidence. This enhances their employability when they leave prison, calms the atmosphere in detention, breaks the isolation, helps to combat re-offending and provides a better understanding of the legal system.