Eighty advertising executives were released from prison after spending the night in Yasmar Detention Centre last Thursday.
UnLtd’s Adland Bail Out event raised $125,000 as inmates were put through their paces and given moving presentations about the cycle of youth incarceration.
The event gives participants a chance to briefly experience what life is like for young people in the juvenile justice system.
The participants were lined up, interrogated and finger-printed before hearing stories from young people with lived experience of incarceration and learning about better alternatives to prison.
The ‘inmates’ then slept the night on the cold hard floors of the cells in the former detention centre.
They heard presentations from BackTrack founder Bernie Shakeshaft, CEO Marcus Watson and young people Jerry and Steph; Youth Off The Streets – youth worker Fatina and a young person who received support from the charity; Stephen Cain from Empathy not Sympathy; lawyer Jilly Field and Confit Pathways founder Joe Kwon, who put inmates through a work9out at 6am on Friday.
The event also included cameos from previous ‘inmates’ who returned as guards. Mark Watt, co-founder of Whitelion ruled the inmates as chief warden. Other guards included Fiona Roberts, Paul Kent, Alexander Sandwith, Chris Freel and Ricky Chanana.
The five biggest fundraisers were Justin ‘Curly’ Ladmore, Cathy O’Connor, Nick Bower, Yasmin ‘Yazzimoto’ Sanders and Paul ‘Siggy’ Sigaloff.
Sanders described the event as “an emotional rollercoaster”.
“From the moment we entered the detention centre, it didn’t take long before we felt institutionalised, after experiencing what it feels like to lose all control of your own life, be shouted at and made feel like you’re worth nothing,” she said.
“We only spent a night so I can only imagine the impact it would have on young people, some as young as 10 years old, spending years in these facilities. It was eye-opening to hear about the misconceptions around youth incarceration and uplifting to hear that there are better alternatives around that focus on prevention.”
Unltd chief executive Stephen Hunt said the experience was “uncomfortable” and “emotional”.
“The team and I are so grateful to everyone who braved the cold cells, listened generously to those with lived experience and helped raise much needed funds to keep kids out of jail. I’m confident that everyone who participated will have left the experience with a far deeper understanding of the issue and a desire to do more. There is a lot of work to be done to change the horrendous statistics around youth incarceration,” he said.
“Our industry has the potential to make a huge difference by changing perspectives and raising awareness about this important issue. That’s exactly what we plan to do from here!”
Last week, B&T caught up with Fatina to find out more about what is driving a spike in youth homelessness.
