Kate meets inmates at women's prison in Gloucestershire

The Duchess of Cambridge has met inmates at a women's prison as part of her work on addiction and mental health.

Kate spoke to staff and a small number of prisoners about their personal stories during a private visit to HMP Eastwood Park, in Gloucestershire.

Kensington Palace tweeted: "The Duchess has visited HMP Eastwood Park to learn what support is available to women prisoners and their families with complex needs.

"Her Royal Highness also met with a small number of women prisoners at HMP Eastwood Park to hear their personal stories.

"The Duchess wants to see the support helping vulnerable families break the cycles at the heart of issues like addiction and mental health."

Kate will also visit a women's centre, which works closely with the prison.

The Nelson Trust Women's Centre in Gloucestershire was set up in 2010 and is designed to support women who have vulnerabilities, particularly those who have experienced abuse and trauma.

Kate will meet members of staff and learn about the various strands of work including prison in-reach and social inclusion support, the sex worker outreach project, and rural outreach to young girls at risk.

She will be introduced to women who have accessed support there and hear about their personal experiences, as well as unveil a plaque in a reception with supporters of the centre.

The centre has won awards for the practical and emotional support it offers, with a focus on nine "pathways of need", which include finances, physical, emotional and mental health, drugs and alcohol, trauma and abuse, sexual exploitation and sex-working.

Along with a second site in Swindon, the Women's Centre supports more than 500 women annually across Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Following its latest inspection in 2014, HMP Eastwood Park was hailed as "impressive" by then chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick.

Opened in 1996, the closed prison comprises category B and C units and was built to hold more than 350 inmates, with a catchment area of Cornwall to Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and across to Wales.

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