The Tamale East Church of Christ Youth (TECOCY) has presented quantities of food stuffs, foot wear and assorted clothes valued at GH?1,500 to inmates of the Tamale Prison to help alleviate their plight.

The presentation of the items on Monday formed part of the youth’s evangelism in the Northern Region towards winning more souls into the church, and also complemented the government’s efforts at providing for the inmates.

Mr Lawrence Amponsah, President of TECOCY, said the donation also formed part of efforts by the youth to provide for the welfare of the less privileged by letting them feel that they were not socially excluded.

He said prisoners needed support and if some felt that they were being rejected by the society they would never reform, which could make them hardened and convert other to their fold.

He said it was the duty of Christian organisations to assist the socially excluded to enable them to realise their dreams after they had left the prison to be able to contribute to the socio-economic needs and development of the country.

Mr Amponsah said the group also embarked on entrepreneurial skills training for its members in the church and other interested groups outside the church to discover their hidden talents to improve their livelihoods as means of addressing poverty and unemployment.

Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) Ebenezer Aidoo, who received the items on behalf of the inmates, expressed gratitude for the kind gesture and said the items would be used to alleviate the plight of the inmates.

He said inmates at the prisons were not there to be punished but to be corrected so that they would fit well in society after their prison lives.

ASP Aidoo said the transformation and reformation of the inmates would be incomplete without the gospel being ministered to them, noting that most of the inmates were being engaged in vocational skills to enable them to establish their businesses after serving their term.