Founded in 1956 New Bridge offers a wide range of services to help prisoners keep in touch with the outside world and prepare themselves to restablish their lives on release. Through the Befriending and Mentoring Service, volunteers work with longer-term prisoners who have either limited contact, or are no longer in contact, with family and friends.

Prisoners often move to different prisons but the New Bridge befriender stays in contact with them wherever they are, all over the country for the duration of their sentence.

Good Vibrations helps prisoners, patients in secure hospitals, ex-prisoners and others in the community to develop crucial life and work skills through participating in Gamelan (Indonesian bronze percussion) courses.

Research, commissioned from Birmingham City University's Centre for Applied Criminology, looked at the impact of taking part in Gamelan on participants 12-18 months on and reported that the courses:

• Significantly improves confidence, listening and communication skills, along with ability to cope with the stress of prison life
• Enhances participants' levels of engagement with further education and training

In the December issue of Criminal Justice Matters, Susan Easton, Tim Black and Mandeep K Dhami give their reasons for and against prisoners being allowed to vote. Read the latest debating section here.

Lincolnshire Action Trust (LAT) works in partnership with a number of statutory and non-statutory agencies to improve the skills and employability of those who have been caught up in the criminal justice system and prisoners. LAT provides free, impartial information, advice and guidance services to those in custody or those in the community who have been sanctioned by the criminal justice system, in Lincolnshire or Rutland.

This involves a one-to-one appointment with a trained advisor who can assist with:

·         Identifying aims, options and choices about learning, training and employment

·         Agreeing an action plan to achieve identified goals

·         Identifying courses and learning providers to assist with progression

·         Advice about the relevance of convictions, including which convictions need to be disclosed, and how this is best done

·         Exploring new career ideas and opportunities

The Trust also has a dedicated service for remand prisoners at HMP Lincoln which provides specific support for this group whilst on remand awaiting trial/sentence.

The Buck Project delivers the ‘Mentoring for Progression – Prison Project’ to encourage and foster prisoner to prisoner mentoring across the prison population of England and Wales, and by doing so improve educational, vocational and employment opportunities for serving prisoners and those who have been released, as well as reducing re-offending levels.

They have launched a pilot scheme in conjunction with HMP Springhill, where prisoners enter into work placements with the potential of securing employment when they are released to ensure a more positive resettlement period.

Send Family Link is a registered charity providing support services for families visiting women in custody at HMP Send, with a particular focus on children with a mother in prison. The aims are to reduce the emotional stress of visiting a loved one in prison and to help families maintain relationships during a prison sentence.

Nearly half of all prisoners lose contact with their families during a prison sentence. The Send Family Link volunteers and supporters make a real difference to families with a loved one in prison by helping to make the experience of visiting prison a positive one. Send Family Link provides supervised play activities for children during prison visits, advice and information for families, and refreshments. They also run special Family Days for mothers in prison to spend quality time with their children.
 

The Forgiveness Project is a charitable organisation which explores forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution through real-life human experiences.

One aspect of their work includes the Images of Forgiveness exhibition, a thought provoking collection of arresting images and personal narratives exploring forgiveness in the face of atrocity. First launched in London in 2004, it has since been displayed in over 300 venues worldwide. Drawing together voices from South Africa, America, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland and England, the exhibition examines forgiveness as a healing process, a journey out of victimhood and, ultimately, a journey of hope.

Further work undertaken is with, RESTORE, an intensive, group-based prison intervention which comes under the Restorative Justice/Victim Awareness umbrella and aims to help prisoners examine their past and the consequences of their actions on others. Facilitated by both victims of crime and people who have been sanctioned by the criminal justice system, RESTORE explores concepts of forgiveness and reparation in a framework that fosters greater accountability and responsibility.

Risk and protective factors in the resettlement of imprisoned fathers with their families by the Ormiston Children and Families Trust and the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge is a recent study in the UK and Europe which investigates risk and protective factors in the resettlement of imprisoned fathers and their families. The research aims to assist the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and third sector organisations working to support families to develop more effective interventions for imprisoned fathers, their (ex)partners and their children.

Bridging The Gap (BTG) aims to help reduce re-offending by helping discharged prisoners settle into their communities after release. BTG can provide help with form-filling, explaining changes to the benefit system, pursuing accommodation options, finding free training opportunities, identifying employers who take on ex-offenders, preparing a good CV and developing interview skills.

BTG operates a penpal scheme to help those wishing to write to prisoners in the UK and currently oversees over 1000 penpals.

Eoin McLennan-Murray, President of the Prison Governors Association, writes on the proposal for prisoners to work a 40 hour working week.

The government are seeking to bring about a rehabilitation revolution and they have recently published their Green paper ‘Breaking the Cycle’ which sets out a range of proposals that will deliver this. Amongst the proposals are plans to make prisons places of hard work and discipline. There is talk of having a 40 hour working week for prisoners and in some way this will help deliver lower reoffending rates. Notionally, it sounds like an attractive idea to have prisoners working harder and for longer. It is something which ministers can sell easily to both the right wing of their own party and the tabloids. However, is it possible to do it on any scale and will it contribute to lower reoffending rates?