---

Where can prisoners and their families get support and advice?

This page lists and briefly describes some sources of support for prisoners and their families.

The UK Government’s website, gov.uk, provides information about:

• all prisons in England and Wales, including contact details
• visiting and staying in touch with a prisoner
• sources of support for families and friends of prisoners

The Scottish Prison Service’s website provides information about:

• all prisons in Scotland, including contact details

The Northern Ireland Department of Justice’s website provides information about:

• all prisons in Northern Ireland, including contact details

Prisoners in England and Wales

The Prisoners’ Advice Service and the Prison Reform Trust provide support and advice to prisoners in England and Wales.

Prisoners’ Advice Service

The Prisoners’ Advice Service is a charity that provides free legal information and advice to adult prisoners in England and Wales. On occasion, it may take legal action on behalf of a prisoner.

The Prisoners’ Advice Service provides:

• telephone advice lines for male and female prisoners that are cleared within all prisons in England and Wales
• self-help toolkits and guides for prisoners
• information sheets for prisoners

The Prisoners’ Advice Service is independent of government and does not receive government funding.

You can find contact details for the Prisoners’ Advice Service on its website.

Prison Reform Trust

The Prison Reform Trust is a charity that, as part of its work, provides a small information and advice service for prisoners in England and Wales. It cannot provide legal advice or long-term support.

The Prison Reform Trust provides:

• an advice and informationtelephone line for prisoners
• information booklets and leaflets for prisoners

The Prison Reform Trust is independent of government and does not receive government funding.

You can find contact details for the Prison Reform Trust on its website.

Families of prisoners in England and Wales

Pact, the Prisoners’ Families Helpline, POPS and Coram Family Lives provide support and advice to families of prisoners in England and Wales.

Pact (Prison Advice and Care Trust)

Pact is a charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions and their families. It is run by the Catholic community.

Pact provides a range of services, including:

• prison visitors’ guides
• support for prisoners’ families and significant others, including:
  • through the Prisoners’ Families Helpline (see below), with financial support from the government
• support for children and young people affected by imprisonment

You can find contact details for Pact on its website.

Prisoners’ Families Helpline

The Prisoners’ Families Helpline is a free and confidential telephone support and advice service for prisoners’ families in England and Wales. The Prisoners’ Families Helpline is operated by Pact (see above), with financial support from the government.

The Prisoners’ Families Helpline provides information about:

• arrest
• going to court
• community sentences
• prison sentences
• release

You can find contact details for the Prisoners’ Families Helpline (including the helpline number) on its website.

POPS

POPS (formerly known as Partners of Prisoners) is a charity that supports the partners and families of prisoners.

POPS provides a range of services including:

• information and advice for families visiting a prison for the first time
• prison-based family support in 15 prisons in England (correct at the time of writing)

You can find contact details for POPS on its website.

Coram Family Lives

Coram Family Lives is a charity that supports families in a range of situations, including those with a member in prison. Coram Family Lives merged with Action for Prisoners’ and Offenders’ Families in 2014.

Coram Family Lives provides:

• resources for families affected by imprisonment
• a telephone helpline, a live online chat service, a WhatsApp chat service and email support for parents in a range of situations

You can find contact details for Coram Family Lives on its website.

Other sources of support for prisoners and their families in England and Wales

The New Bridge Foundation and the Inside Time newspaper (which is published by a subsidiary of the foundation) provide a range of other support and advice for prisoners and prisoners’ families in England and Wales.

New Bridge Foundation

The New Bridge Foundation is a charity that provides a befriending service for prisoners. The foundation trains volunteers, who exchange letters with, and visit, prisoners.

You can find contact details for the New Bridge Foundation on its website.

Inside Time

Inside Time is a newspaper for prisoners and detainees.

Inside Time is published online once a week and published physically once a month. The newspaper can be access online via its website and a free mobile app. Physical copies are distributed free of charge to all prisons.

Inside Time provides a range of resources, including:

• a guide for new prisoners
• information for prisoners who believe they have been wrongly convicted
• Legal Q&A, a regular feature where solicitors answer prisoners’ questions

Inside Time is published by Inside Time Limited, a not-for-profit publishing company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New Bridge Foundation (see above).

You can find contact details for Inside Time on its website.

Prisoners and prisoners’ families in Scotland

Families Outside provides information and support to prisoners’ families in Scotland.

Families Outside

Families Outside is a charity that describes itself as “the only national charity working in Scotland that supports families that are affected by imprisonment.”

It provides a range of support and advice, including:

• one-to-one support
• a telephone helpline
• tools and resources

You can find contact details for Families Outside on its website. 

Prisoners and prisoners’ families in Northern Ireland

NIACRO provides support and advice to prisoners’ families in Northern Ireland.

NIACRO

NIACRO (formerly the known as the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders) is a charity registered in Northern Ireland that works “to reduce crime and its impact on people and communities.”

NIACRO provides a range of services, including:

• support for adults in contact with the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland
• Family Links, which “offers practical and emotional support, advocacy and advice to families and children who have a family member in prison”

You can find contact details for NIACRO on its website.

Sources of legal help and advice

For information about sources of legal help and advice, see the Commons Library briefing Legal help: where to go and how to pay.