Storybook Dad, an independent, registered charity has been based at Dartmoor Prison for four years and has been steadily expanding across the prison estate. Although the concept of prisoners recording a story for their children is not a new one, we are using digital technology in an innovative way to enhance the stories, which results in a very special product.

Our aim is to maintain family ties and facilitate learning for prisoners and their children through the provision of story CDs. The children love these stories because they can hear their parent's voice whenever they want and the feedback from prisoners and their families is overwhelming. The dads feel that they are doing something for their children and this goes a long way towards strengthening family ties.

Storybook Dads (and now Mums) can be a lifeline for families and plays a key role in helping to maintain the family unit during the period of separation. The beauty of the scheme is that any prisoner can take part regardless of their reading ability. The editing process eliminates any mistakes, and also any unwanted noises that often occur in a prison environment (gates, keys etc). They can take part on its simplest level (just reading a story) or embark on one of the other more ambitious aspects of the scheme such as making a book to send out with the audio story.