Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

This Unusual Prison Program Is Changing Lives With FRAGRANCE

Illustrator Michael O’Shaughnessy brings an unusual collection of classic French perfumes and bespoke fragrances into prisons across northern England, asking incarcerated men to smell each scent and share what memories it triggers in a project that’s unlocking something profound behind bars. The simple premise of his Perfume Stories workshops can stop men in their tracks, with participants recalling everything from messing around with their grandmother’s beauty creams to buying cherry lips sweets from the corner shop, moments when they were happier versions of themselves. O’Shaughnessy originally used scents to help struggling university students at Liverpool John Moores University develop storytelling ideas, finding that smell was a great leveler that reached students who couldn’t hit the ground running with traditional approaches.

After showcasing an installation at Tate Liverpool capturing people’s responses to various scents, representatives from prison education provider Novus asked if he would bring his idea behind bars, and he jumped at the chance. The workshops use timeless fragrances like Guerlain’s Shalimar and Chanel’s Cuir de Russie to transport men outside the internal walls of their confined spaces to better places and times, with participants describing the experience as mental escapism, positive, and in true Liverpool style, absolutely boss. More than nostalgic flights of fancy, the program offers a creative gateway into adult learning that challenges men who’ve had mixed educational experiences, getting them to write down memories and read them aloud, with the confidence boost catalyzing interest in other academic programs. O’Shaughnessy volunteers his time and has trained prison staff to run workshops themselves, with one prisoner writing that imagining his future through scent made him wonder what the world smells like and whether it has a place for him, proving that perfume can unlock experiences that are joyful, reflective, and possibly the start of redemption.

PrevPreviousThis Simple Act Of Kindness For A Snake Goes Viral

Recent Articles

Happy News

Dad’s Front Yard Food Pantry Goes Viral

November 18, 2025

AJ Owen and his seven and nine year old sons from Whitehall, Pennsylvania, decided to help people struggling with SNAP benefit cuts by setting up a free food pantry in their front yard, starting with just $150 worth of groceries from ALDI on Steelers Sunday. By the next morning, an

Read More
Happy News

The Spelling Bee Moment That Had Everyone Laughing

November 18, 2025

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is known as a serious competition where students study arduously to memorize root words and unusual spellings for a chance at a $50,000 cash prize and the title of national spelling champion. During the 2007 competition, 11 year old Kennyi Aouad approached the microphone with

Read More
Happy News

Nurses Transform Hospital Room Into Dream Wedding Venue

November 18, 2025

Harry Sweppenneiser lay in his hospital bed at Penn Presbyterian in Philadelphia when his son Allen shared incredible news, he was getting married and wanted his father to be part of the celebration. Nurse Manager Julie Seman and her team immediately sprang into action to make Harry’s dream of seeing

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 HappyNews.