Inside Out at HMP Bullingdon
Year of Project: 2022
Location: HMP Bullingdon, Bicester
Collaborators: PACT, HMP Bullingdon
Stream: NatureScape + NatureConnect
With thanks to: CAG Oxford, NHS England, The National Lottery Communities Fund, Joey Beauchamp and everyone who has supported our fundraising campaign to date
The Story
In 2022, The Nature Effect was invited by HMP Bullingdon to design and develop garden spaces that could support wellbeing, rehabilitation, and family connection. This collaboration led to the Inside Out Project, which focuses on creating restorative environments for men in custody—particularly those in the Incentivised Substance-Free Living (ISFL) programme, as well as individuals at risk of self-harm or with more complex needs.The project has three key strands:
Therapeutic Garden
A sensory-rich therapeutic garden is being developed alongside the ISFL unit. Designed to encourage biodiversity, relaxation, and skill-building, it provides a calming space for men from Arncott wing to maintain, while also offering healthcare professionals a supportive setting for assessments and tailored interventions.
Visitor Centre Garden
In partnership with PACT, The Nature Effect has created a welcoming, nature-filled garden for children and families visiting loved ones in custody. The space helps reduce the stress of visits, encourages outdoor play, and supports positive family connection.
Community Connections
The project also strengthens links between men leaving custody and community-based organisations. By connecting individuals and families with local gardening and green-space initiatives, Inside Out supports positive reintegration, continuity of care, and meaningful engagement beyond the prison gates.
Impact
The Visitor Centre garden is now complete and was officially opened in June 2025. Named the Bloom & Play Garden, it is a vibrant, interactive outdoor space designed to support family visits and child development. It features flowering plants, a slide, willow dome, music wall, sand pit, and other nature-based play installations.
The ISFL garden was completed in January 2026 and is now developing into a productive, nature-rich garden space. Maintained by men from the unit, it provides opportunities for growing food, learning practical horticultural skills, and taking part in purposeful activities that support wellbeing, confidence, teamwork, and a sense of ownership.
Ongoing Therapeutic Engagement
The Nature Effect continues to deliver therapeutic, nature-based sessions in both the Bloom & Play Garden and the ISFL garden at HMP Bullingdon. Led by experienced practitioners, the sessions combine practical gardening with sensitive, trauma-aware facilitation, creating calm and welcoming spaces within a highly pressured environment.
In the Bloom & Play Garden, families take part in planting raised beds with vegetables, harvesting produce, observing insects, and engaging in nature-based activities such as weaving and chalking. Children and adults dig, plant, explore, and taste produce together, with many taking plants home to continue growing. Families report that the garden reduces the stress of visits, providing a space where children can relax and reconnect with their loved ones.
In the ISFL garden, monthly sessions provide men with opportunities to grow food, care for plants, build garden features, and develop practical skills through hands-on activities. The garden has become a place for learning, teamwork, and pride, with participants developing a strong sense of connection and ownership over the space.
Together, the two gardens create a unique therapeutic link between men in custody and their families. Through shared experiences of growing, nature, and outdoor activity, the project reduces stress, builds skills and confidence, and creates moments of dignity, calm, and connection.
