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CONVICTS HUG A TREE TO GO FREE

Hugging trees: Rehabilitation!

Tuesday July 15,2008

By Tom Whitehead

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(14)

PRISONERS are “hugging” trees as part of their rehabilitation – with an eye on winning early release.

Inmates are signing up for a National Lottery-funded project to assess and measure our ancient trees.

One trusted method of gauging their age is to “hug” the tree trunk – linking arms around it to measure the girth.

The Prison Service insists it does not receive funding for taking part in the five-year scheme, and that it helps prisoners to improve their maths skills. But it is bound to benefit any inmates who take part, especially more serious offenders who have to persuade a parole board that they are fit for release.

A TaxPayers’ Alliance spokesman said: “I do not think this is what people imagine when the Home Secretary talks about prison being a tough place.

“Victims are led to believe criminals are being punished, not taught to hug trees.”

The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt hopes to pinpoint 100,000 ancient specimens across Britain during its “Summer of Hugs”.

Conservation policy officer Jill Butler said: “Many prisons were established on old stately homes. Where you’ve got a stately home you have parkland and those old parklands will have ancient trees.

“It is not very easy to send people from outside in, so we really need people who are living inside those prisons to record them.”

Asked if the inmates would be involved in tree “hugging”, Ms Butler replied: “Yes. That’s what some of them are doing.”

A group hug is a recommended method of dating a tree. A British standard hug from an adult with arms outstretched, fingertip to fingertip, is about 1.5 metres, and a child’s hug is roughly half that.

A veteran oak may be a candidate for the trust’s database once it gets to three adult hugs, a beech might qualify at just two hugs – but an old, fat sweet chestnut would require four hugs because it grows more quickly.

The Prison Service said: “Many offenders have poor literacy and numeracy skills.

“This is just one project that teaches prisoners serving less serious offences skills in maths, measurement and using databases, as well as teaching them to value the environment.”

Victims are led to believe criminals are being punished, not taught to hug tree

A TaxPayers’ Alliance spokesman

TOO RIDICULOUS FOR WORDS

17.07.08, 2:24pm

Well, I thought it was too ridiculous for words ..... until I saw that the Lottery fools were involved.

'nuff said.

• Posted by: Brit1 • Report Comment

WHY REUBENMOHAWALI

15.07.08, 6:54pm

THANK YOU FOR THOSE KIND WORDs YOU HAVE MY EYELASHES ALL OF A FLUTTER

TAKE CARE AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK WHERE EVER YOU ARE,

• Posted by: ANNR • Report Comment

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION .. I BELIEVE THE TREE THING SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED..

15.07.08, 6:15pm

Without any further delay...

With one small change to the "cunning" plan.

Instead of "hugging" the trees they should be hanging from them .

• Posted by: BratislavaUK • Report Comment

CONVICTS TO HUG TREES!

15.07.08, 5:58pm

*** **** sake what next?

• Posted by: jonG • Report Comment

EMPERORMING: CORRECTION! ASYLUM BRITAIN IS THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE ENTIRE WORLD - WITH NO EXCEPTIONS!!

15.07.08, 5:34pm

Even uneducated older people in my village laugh with sheer disbelief when I relate to them some of the current goings-on in the UK.

They shake their heads. They wring their hands. They call Nasty Brown "Mafia" - no good!!

And they are absolutely correct!

• Posted by: ReubenMohawali • Report Comment