Day 4 in Finland

Well what a busy few days so far. I was given a tour of the training college (RSKK) yesterday which was interwoven with some meetings with the Lecturers. This was very beneficial and assisted me greatly in understanding the way the service in Finland works. Today it was off to the Assessment Centre at Helsinki City Prison for a meeting with the Senior Planning Officers. This was followed by a tour of the Prison by Mr Jouko Pietila the Director and Ms Ritva Vahakoski Senior Lecturer at RSKK. I have learned a lot over the past few days. The culture in Finland is very different and relaxed compared to home and people genuinely give of their time to assist me which has helped me a lot so far.Tomorrow its of to Kerava Prison which has a closed Prison and an Open Unit. I have also discovered it has a Mental Health Unit which I have added to the itinerary. Thanks to Hannu Luukkonen for arranging this at the last moment. Postcards have been sent tonight so with the Volcano they may take a week or two to wing their way back lets hope it does not take me that long......