This article was written by Barbora Hotová, member of the GWMD team at Prison Fellowship CZ.
19 September 2026, Jiřice Prison (Czechia) — The day began with families arriving at Jiřice Prison. The reunions between the imprisoned fathers and their children were very emotional and set the tone for the whole day from the very beginning. After a short welcome and introduction to the programme, the children called for our mascot, Chuck, whose presence and a dance together helped create a relaxed and playful atmosphere.
The main part of the morning programme was a football training session and match led by professional football players from Ambassadors FC Praha. Fathers and children had the opportunity to train together, play with the ball and then take part in a match. It was not about winning or performance, but above all about spending time together, enjoying the game and sharing an experience. Football later proved to be one of the most popular parts of the programme.
Our ambassador, Filip Tomsa, also joined the event, supporting the families and taking part in the programme throughout the day. At the end of the football session, he presented medals to the children.
After lunch, the programme continued with a more relaxed afternoon block. Families could take part in a variety of creative and leisure activities, including painting, making bracelets and photo frames, face painting, temporary tattoos and taking family photos. Board games and other activities for the children were also available. Live music accompanied the afternoon and contributed to the relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The families therefore had plenty of space to talk, laugh and simply spend time together outside the usual routine of prison visits.
“I saw the happiness and joy in both my grandson and my son—their eyes were sparkling.”
— the caregiver of one of the children.
One of the quieter and more personal activities was “A Letter for Later”, during which children and their parents could write a personal message to one another and create a keepsake that they could hold on to after the day was over.
Throughout the afternoon, it was lovely to see the fathers and children getting involved in the different activities together. The volunteers also noticed how children from different families naturally started talking to one another, spending time together and being kind to each other.
The feedback from participants was largely very positive and showed how important it was for the families to spend time together and experience something different from a regular prison visit. There were also some more difficult and painful reactions, reminding us that families separated by prison often face challenging circumstances and that their relationships can be significantly affected by imprisonment.
For the volunteers, some of the most powerful moments of the day were often the simplest ones – the joy of children and fathers playing football together, the laughter, the first reunions when families arrived and the emotional goodbyes. One volunteer remembered a father who spent almost their entire conversation looking out of the window because he could not wait to see his sons. Another volunteer remembered a moment when she gave one of the fathers a painting his child had made during the day. He smiled, thanked her and warmly shook her hand. As the families were leaving, one of the little girls came over to give her a goodbye hug.
Children were asked to describe the day in five words. Some of the children’s five-word descriptions included:
“awesome-super-finally-exhausting-great.”
The day gave the families an opportunity to create shared memories, experience moments of ordinary family life and, for a few hours, forget about the prison environment. Sport, creative activities, music and simply spending time together created a space where parents and their children could just be together.
This event was part of Game with Mum & Dad, a project coordinated by Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) across Europe. The Project aims to strengthen, maintain and enhance the bond between children and their imprisoned parents, and to generate systemic, child rights–based change across prison systems.
In Czechia, GWMD is implemented by Prison Fellowship CZ, an NGO offering a broad range of support to all those affected by crime to victims, including imprisoned or previously imprisoned people, families and children with a parent in prison.
