Partnership Finder

Circles South West is an independent charity established in 2010. We work in close partnership with health, police, probation and youth offending services, uniquely providing Circles of Support and Accountability across South West England. We are the only recognised partner of the Ministry of Justice and statutory agencies/MAPPA, providing specialist support and accountability to enhance the management of people who have sexually offended in the community. Last year we coordinated 58 Circles of Support and Accountability, involving more then 200 volunteers around the region. This is more than 6400 direct volunteering hours, equivalent to £89,500 in kind.
Circles South West provides Circles of Support and Accountability, using four volunteers for each sex offender, to support and help monitor high-risk sex offenders in the community. We provide Circles for adults, young people with harmful sexual behaviour and for those with an Intellectual Disability. We also provide Circles for sexual offenders pre- release from HMP Leyhill, Channings Wood and Dartmoor.We work closely with Police and HMPPS.

Criminon UK is a registered charity delivering distance learning life skills courses in many UK prisons. We are members of LASER Learning Awards (formerly the Open College Network South East Region), and have four courses accredited. Our accredited course "Understanding and Overcoming Addiction", aligns with learning outcomes of the NOCN National Qualification Unit's 'Introduction to Drug Awareness', Level 1. Our other accredited courses deal with literacy at Entry Level 2 and Level 1 and a simple guide to better living and self-respect at Entry Level 2. Further life skills courses we offer deal with Parenting, Communication and Personal Integrity. We also offer a Mentor Course which gives the offender the skills to help others with their literacy and allows them to give something back, helping them achieve greater confidence and self-respect.

Developing Health And Independence is a charity that was set up in 1999 to help those in need to break out of the cycle of homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse. Its aim is to assist people to address their addictions and gain control of their lives.

Fair Shares runs Time Banks in Gloucestershire which focus on two way volunteering which is explained more fully below. We began our work with the prison estate with HMP Gloucester and this successful partnership continued for six years, until the prison closed in 2013. We are currently working with HMP Leyhill, HMP Erlestoke and HMP Eastwood Park and are developing work with HMP Dartmoor. Time Banking is a great way of engaging with all members of our communities and benefits on a number of social, health and economic levels. Our participants in the prisons are either involved in Times2, our Maths peer mentoring scheme or volunteer for other organisations and use time banking to add extra value to the work that they already undertake.
Time Banking is a system of two-way volunteering; for every hour of your time you put in, you earn an hour of help in return or you can decide to give those hours to help those in the community who need extra support via the goodwill pot.

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.

Mission Statement: To provide care, support, the relief of poverty and rehabilitation for offenders and ex-offenders who are or have been in custody, in particular but not exclusively by providing a support network for Muslim Chaplains.
Our Vision is to raise awareness in all communities of how to effectively contribute towards the vision of rehabilitation and resettlement of the National Offenders Management Service.

Our aims are:
• To support Muslim Chaplains.
• To work towards the resettlement of prisoners and prevention of re-offending upon release.
• To engage with the Muslim and wider Communities
• To provide Faith support inside and upon release
• Provide a mentor or link with faith community after release
• Provide CDs for mental well being of Muslim prisoners
• Print, design and assist in distributing material useful for prisoners
• Organise meetings for members to empower them to provide the above services

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.

No Offence! facilitates open access to and exchange of crime and justice information, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

No Offence! is a social enterprise, community interest company, not driven by private profit.

Our innovative and engaging approach facilitates the sharing of this information by instigating, supporting and encouraging communication and debate, which promotes wider understanding of complex criminal justice issues across society. By challenging barriers to positive change and influencing future policy, our objective is simple: to make a difference.

We have created a criminal justice information exchange service, which has become a centre for excellence, for the significant benefit of all who engage within the criminal justice sector.

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.

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.

REACH INSIDE is a charity that has been set up to help friends and family members of prisoners to REACH INSIDE and communicate easily with their loved ones.
Our POST–2–PRISON project allows anyone with online access to send a photo and a message to any UK prisoner completely free of charge.
All you need to do is visit our website (its mobile friendly too) and send your message, we will then print it and post it directly into prison.

Restorative Solutions is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) committed to enabling the use of innovative restorative approaches as a practical and cost-effective intervention for reducing harm or conflict.
We introduce restorative practices to organisations, volunteers and front line workers who are looking for a proven and worthwhile alternative to existing conventional approaches to reducing conflict, disputes, anti-social behaviour, bullying, crime and re-offending. We deliver bespoke, commissioned Restorative Justice services to organisations.

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.

Sue Ryder supports people living through the challenges of life-limiting conditions in our hospices, neurological care centres and in the community.
Sue Ryder's award winning prison volunteer programme offers work experience and training to currently serving offenders helping to equip them with transferable skills whilst increasing their self-confidence and self-esteem. We are currently working with around 60 prisons nationally with volunteers working in a variety of roles in over 120 locations. Many of our volunteers move on to paid work with us.

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.

Footprints reduces the risk of reoffending by those leaving custody and returning to Dorset, S Somerset and Hampshire by offering a through the gate mentoring service. We also work with those serving a sentence in the community.

Our Life works programme run in partnership with Parkstone United Reform Church in Poole offers voluntary opportunities for clients to do painting and decorating in community buildings, gaining skills and raising their levels of confidence and self esteem.

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.