Thousands of prisoners from across the UK are being invited to enter an arts' competition whose winners will go on show at London's Southbank Centre.
The competition is being run by the Koestler Trust, which works to reduce re-offending by engaging prisoners with the arts.
The trust said it expects to receive some 8,000 entries, covering 61 diverse art forms, including painting, song writing, magazine journalism and drama.
This track was recorded by an inmate of HM Prison & Young Offender Institution in Berkshire and won 2012's singer-songwriter Silver Award.
The trust describes its work as follows:
"The current high levels of re-offending affect us all. To make our society safer, it pays to channel offenders' energies to positive ends, to build their self-worth and help them learn new skills.
"The arts are an especially effective way of engaging with offenders who feel alienated from mainstream education and employment, and there is growing evidence that the arts are effective in changing offenders' lives."
What do you think of this approach to tackling re-offending? If you're a former inmate, do you think it would have helped you?
Please leave us a comment and let us know.
To find out more about the amazing work of the Koestler Trust check out their website and listen to more tracks by inmates here.
The deadline for the 2014 competition is 14 April, with winners announced in the summer.









