Innovative management training workshops launched by London Shakespeare Prison Project.

A charity which inspires prisoners with Shakespeare is expanding to offer mangement training. The "Willing Dreams" programme offers a unique route to effective communication and creative presentation skills. Workshops combine managers, professional actors and prison inmates.

The London Shakespeare Workout Prison Project is a registered charity which uses Shakespeare to promote confidence in serving inmates and ex-offenders. At the end of June the Govenor of HMP Brixton announced the launch of a permanent dramatic training facility: "The Dream Factory".

The Dream Factory will maintain a core graduating class of 20 offenders, commencing in October 2004. It will involve vocational mentoring by professional actors and ex-offenders to help prisoners lead useful and law-abiding lives. And in an extra twist it will offer management training worksops.

Scott Brooksbank, an actor with BBC Radio notes: "Freedom is not something that I tend to think about, but as I trundled around the supermarket this evening, just an hour after being in prison, I considered afresh the privilege that some of us have and so many do not - freedom not just to be able to chose between bread rolls or bagels, freedom not only from physical constraints, but from social constraints, constaints of language, thought and the freedom to be creative, to break actual and metaphorical shackles."

Managers from BG Group took part in a prototype workshop recently. Liz Straker, learning and development manager said: "It was very well run and the participants got a lot from the experience. The work with the prisoners was truly inspiring and provided a real lifeline for people in any manner of situations. Just fantastic to see all the people involved 'empowered' with such a powerful tool to express themselves with. Brilliant".

The management training workshops are desgined to highlight the following management needs:

• Interacting & presenting in public with confidence
• Disguising nerves through inspiration
• Coping with misconceptions and prejudice
• Building teams across very different and diverse groups
• Picking up subtle unsaid messages
• Communicating with customers, staff & colleagues at all levels
• Enhancing fluency
• Refreshing command of language
• Improving self esteem & environmental awareness

Managers, actors and inmates will all be on an equal footing in the workshop. They will take part interactive exercises within a focused programme, employing Shakespeare to promote confidence.

Dr. Bruce Wall Executive Director of the LSW Prison Project said: "Business leaders cannot but see value of the societal metaphor which is a prison. It consistently deals specifically with the issues of diversity and management. Actors, like inmates, are constantly forced to face differing perspectives and attitudes in order to simply survive. Their common language is one of confidence. The Willing Dreams programme shall, I promise, offer unique perspectives."

Willing Dreams is a unique training programme in the United Kingdom. It supports the welfare of prisoners as well as developing key mangement skills for the participants. Considerable interest is being generated and it should prove sucessful. For more information visit the Willing Dreams website.