Supporting Families – what support do families get?
Family members may have mixed feelings about the imprisonment of a loved one, shock, devastation or even sometimes relief.
One of the many worries that a family member of an offender will experience is the discrimination and judgement from people.
Imprisonment affects not only the offender but their families especially children.
Families should be actively involved and play an important role with the progression of the offender and therefore will need a lot of help with this.
‘Email a prisoner’ lets family members send messages to a prisoner via their website.
The message is printed inside the prison and will be included in the daily mail delivery. Messages cost 40p. https://www.emailaprisoner.
There are also a number of useful websites like:
https://www.familylives.org.uk/about/our-services/action-for-prisoners-and-offenders-families/
https://www.familiesoutside.
These websites hold a lot of information and contact numbers for anyone wishing to speak to an advisor.
Visiting a prison
Visiting a prison can be a very scary thought. If it’s your first time you won’t know what to expect and may be worried about entering that kind of environment. The following website is very helpful with any questions you may have regarding visiting rules – https://www.prisonersfamilies.
HACRO Visitors Centre is very welcoming and offers a play area for children and a cafe for visitors to get refreshments. It is very important that it is a welcoming environment for the families to put them at ease and make the visiting process less stressful.