Instead of presents for wedding anniversary

We will be celebrating our 10. wedding anniversary on 1.10.2016. As for our actual wedding, instead of presents, we have chosen two charities close to our heart for you to contribute to.

Justice for people imprisoned is a cause close to Birgit's heart particularly. The UK has the highest number of prisoners per 100 000 population in Europe, about twice as high as middle European and Scandinavian countries. Resources go into building prisons, rather than prevention or community rehabilitation.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world, founded in 1866, and fights this trend. It lobbies on behalf of prisoners, particularly young people (in England children can be imprisoned from the age of 10), to reduce the number of prisoners, and to improve the conditions in prison. It also provides legal support for prisoners who will otherwise not be legally represented. The Howard League for Penal Reform has successfully run campaigns for children and young people in prison, to improve access to work to support rehabilitation and to stop the senseless rule that prisoners could not be sent books by relatives. At a time when human rights legislation in the UK are under increased threat in the wake of Brexit, it is more important than ever to hold up the rights of the most unpopular individuals in society and your donation will support this.