Directory

English PEN believes in safeguarding the freedom to read and write. Its Readers and Writers programme brings writers and books into closed and neglected communities in particular prisons. We work in partnership with education, libraries and writers in residence.

Geese Theatre Company is a team of professional theatre practitioners who present interactive drama and facilitate workshops, staff training and consultation in prisons, secure mental health settings, young offender institutions, and in the community with probation services, youth offending teams and related agencies. A registered charity based in Birmingham, Geese works throughout the UK and overseas and has gained an international reputation for innovative work with vulnerable and socially excluded groups, becoming widely acknowledged as one of the key organisations championing the role of arts in the criminal justice system and wider social welfare arena. Our work provides solutions to a range of criminogenic issues, primarily focussing on attitudes, thinking and behaviour and addressing themes such as domestic abuse, sexual offending, violence, resettlement, substance misuse and offending, self-efficacy, and employability.

Inside Time is a newspaper provided to every prison in the country. We also publish Inside Information, a comprehensive guide to prisons, legal fact sheets and support organisations for prisoners and their families.

Since 1962 the Koestler Awards have played a unique, national role in motivating prisoners, secure hospital patients and immigration detainees to take part in the arts. The Koestler Awards are simple and powerful – we reward achievement, build self-confidence and broaden horizons for some of society’s most disadvantaged and marginalised people.

Our work harnesses the uniquely transformative power of the arts to help individuals learn the skills and gain the confidence to live creative, positive and productive lives. Each year we receive more than 7,000 entries from over 3,500 entrants across the UK in 52 categories. More than 2,000 Awards are granted by over 100 esteemed judges, and each year culminates in a curated exhibition at Southbank Centre which showcases the incredible power of the arts to transform lives, as well as regular exhibitions and displays across the UK.

We also run an Arts Mentoring project partnering talented Koestler Award winners with professional artists.

New Bridge match people in prisons with trained volunteers who offer long-term support through a combination of correspondence and visits. This provides people in prison with a bridge to the outside world, along with an increased sense of value and potential for their future.

Pact is a pioneering national charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions, and their children and families. We provide caring and life-changing services at every stage of the criminal justice process: in court, in prison, on release, and in the community, based on a public health model of practice.

We work in more than 60 prisons and provide prison-based family engagement and social workers, Visitors’ Centres, visitor support, supervised play, catering, family activities, relationship and parenting education programmes, court and community family support, resettlement support and community-based mentoring and befriending programmes. Our volunteers and staff can be found in courts, prisons, probation services, and in communities across England & Wales.

We also run the HMPPS contracted national Prisoners' Families Helpline which can be reached seven days a week on 0808 808 2003.

Our mission is to show Christ’s love to people in prison by coming alongside them and supporting them. We seek, through prayer and practical care, to help, support and develop a Christian ministry to people in prison and their families.

We do this through our network of over 2,500 volunteers. We are currently ministering in almost all of the 120 prisons in England and Wales.

We make it possible for volunteers in the community to write letters to prisoners, and to receive letters in return, and to do so in safety.

The Prisoners' Advice Service provides free legal advice and representation to adult prisoners in England and Wales regarding their rights, and regardless of the individual prisoners' means. PAS aims to educate and empower prisoners regarding the law and their legal and human rights.

Since 1989, PET has supported prisoners to engage in rehabilitation through learning. We do this by providing distance learning courses, advice and support in subjects and levels not available in prisons. PET also promotes and argues the case for prisoner education, and undertakes research informed by prisoner learners, to improve policies and practice.

Samaritans provides confidential emotional support to prisoners, either by telephone or face-to-face. The organisation also selects, trains and supports prisoners, known as Listeners, to offer confidential, emotional support to their fellow-inmates.

We are a national caseworking charity for serving and ex-service men and women and their families in times of need. We require only one day's paid service in the British Armed Forces to be eligible for our help. We try to offer emotional, practical and financial support. We have a network of trained volunteer case workers throughout the UK.

We help imprisoned parents to keep in touch with their children by enabling them to create personalised story CDs or DVDs, thereby improving literacy skills for both parent and child. Most of the CD and DVD production work is done by trained prisoners who can also gain valuable skills and qualifications.

Established in 2000, Synergy Theatre Project works with prisoners, ex-prisoners and young people at risk, towards rehabilitation, through theatre and related activities, while placing the wider issues surrounding criminal justice in the public arena.

The Irene Taylor Trust 'Music in Prisons' delivers creative music projects which focus on the creation of new and innovative music. Projects are accessible to everyone regardless of musical experience, and aim to raise the self-confidence and aspirations of men, women and young people in prisons and those in the community who may be at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system.

Skills for Justice is the Government-licensed Sector Skills Council for Justice and Community Safety, working with public, private and third-sector organisations to ensure that workforces (including volunteers) have the right skills now and for the future.

Unlock is an independent award-winning national charity that provides a voice and support for people with convictions who are facing stigma and obstacles because of their criminal record, often long after they have served their sentence.

Firstly, we help people. We provide information, advice and support to people with convictions, including running an information site and confidential peer-run helpline. We help practitioners support people with convictions by providing criminal record disclosure training. And we support employers and universities in treating people with criminal records fairly.

Secondly, we advocate for change, working at policy level to address systemic and structural issues. We listen to and consult with people with criminal records, undertake research and produce evidence-based reports to inform policy makers and the public. We challenge bad practice, influence attitudes and speak truth to power. We co-founded and support the Ban the Box campaign.