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Displayed between 29 August to 30 November 2025
This autumn, visitors to Limnerslease can see a new decorative dinner service, created by nine artists at HMP Send. The women of HMP Send are serving prisoners who take part in weekly art workshops, providing women in prison with access to the therapeutic power of art.
The ‘Our Time’ initiative is a partnership between HMP Send, the Michael Varah Memorial Fund (MVMF) and Watts Gallery Trust.
Since 2009, it has enabled these women to improve their confidence, their mental health and wellbeing, supporting them to develop a range of skills throughout their prison journey and prepare for their rehabilitation.
With echoes of the Famous Women Dinner Service designed in the 1930s by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, the Women of ‘Our Time’Dinner Service imagines the notable women Mary Watts might invite to her table, through a contemporary lens.
The artists have decorated plates with likenesses of their six diverse guests, who – they believe – would broaden Mary’s horizons, in ways she would find mentally stimulating.
Our Women of 'Our Time' Dinner Service is a metaphor for our group. We are all different, yet we come together in the Watts sessions with one common goal: what connects us is our art. - HMP Send artist
Our Women of 'Our Time' Dinner Service is a metaphor for our group. We are all different, yet we come together in the Watts sessions with one common goal: what connects us is our art.
- HMP Send artist
The Michael Varah Memorial Fund (MVMF) is a registered charity that continues the beliefs of the late Michael Varah, a progressive and pragmatic Chief Probation Officer who understood the difficulties faced by offenders and ex-offenders as they try to rebuild their lives.
It supports individuals who are marginalised and often at risk in society, to help develop their skills and improve their life chances, in prison and transitioning through the gates. It works collaboratively with partners, notably Watts Gallery Trust, and has funded the MVMF Artist in Residence programme to rehabilitate women prisoners at HMP Send since 2009. From 2017, the charity has worked alongside the artists at HMP Send to facilitate their annual ‘Our Time’ exhibition.
Since 2017, the women artists on this programme at HMP Send have pioneered the ‘Our Time’ initiative – originating, planning and curating an annual exhibition of their work for invited guests inside the prison walls each June and learning new skills in the process. In 2025 they sold 202 artworks in six hours! The women also produce their own inspiring range of ‘Our Time’ merchandise. This enterprise, a ‘first’ in any UK prison, is supported by the MVMF and Watts Gallery Trust.