Combating social isolation in prison
Pact’s volunteer visitor scheme, Let’s Talk, aims to support individuals at risk of social isolation. By offering regular visits from a carefully matched, trained, and supervised Pact volunteer, the programme provides relational, trauma-informed, psycho-social support, to help prisoners improve their mental health, wellbeing, and safety. Through supporting people’s ability to cope in custody, communication, engagement and relationships, Let’s Talk ultimately seeks to improve prospects for successful rehabilitation and resettlement in the community.
Why do some prisoners not receive visits?
There are many reasons why someone in prison might not receive social visits:
- Distance – families may live hundreds of miles away from the prison where their loved one is serving a sentence.
- Cost – Train fares, fuel prices, and the need to take time off work or find childcare can make visitors’ journeys impossible.
- Broken bonds – some relationships unravel before a sentence is handed down. Feelings of betrayal, shame, anger or hurt on both sides can leave families unsure how – or whether – to reconnect.
- Personal choice – some prisoners choose to protect their loved ones by asking them not to visit during their time inside.
- Few or no connections to begin with – many people in prison have struggled to build healthy relationships in the past and have no circle of friends or family waiting for them on the outside.
- Seeking positive connections - some people choose to distance themselves from connections that played a role in the lifestyle that led them to prison, instead seeking to build healthier, more positive relationships.
- Legal and safety considerations – The nature of certain offences can limit or forbid contact between family members, especially when potential visitors are victims or witnesses.
Why are social visits important?
Healthy, supportive relationships are the cornerstone of successful rehabilitation. As Lord Farmer’s seminal report on reducing offending states: “Supportive relationships with at least one person are indispensable for a prisoner’s ability to get through their sentence well and achieve rehabilitation” (Farmer, 2017).
Decades of research back this up. Regular social visits from family, friends, or trained volunteers have been shown to make a real difference, helping individuals in custody to:
- Improve mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Better manage behaviour and comply with prison rules
- Prepare for resettlement and ease the transition back into society
- Reduce the risk of reoffending
- Maintain a sense of normality and connection to the outside world
In short, social visits are not just about having something to do – they are a crucial part of the journey towards rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
What are the benefits of volunteer visitor schemes?
Volunteer visitor schemes offer a valuable way for people in prison to form positive, pro-social relationships with members of the wider community. Research suggests that such schemes offer a range of benefits, including:
- Non-judgemental support
- Encouragement of personal growth
- Improved emotional wellbeing
- A renewed sense of hope for the future
- A welcome break from prison routines
Let's Talk: volunteer prison visitors
Pact noticed growing concern from its Routes2Change partner prisons about the high number of people not receiving social visits. These individuals were often struggling with their wellbeing and placing added pressure on prison resources.
Existing volunteer programmes, largely made up of white women, were often seen by people in prison as unrelatable, sometimes even deepening feelings of isolation. As one man put it: “It’s like you see a white lady and then everyone is on you... ah, you got no real mother.”
Pact’s volunteer visitor scheme, Let’s Talk, currently operates in both men’s and women’s prisons, including HMPs Brixton, Isis, Highdown, Send and Stafford. It is designed to support people in custody who would otherwise receive no social visits by pairing them with trained volunteers from the community. Careful matching helps ensure shared interests or backgrounds between volunteers and the person they visit, and participants receive at least one social visit per month
The scheme prioritises diversity, encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds and walks of life. All volunteers undergo a selection and vetting process to ensure their suitability for the role. They also receive free, comprehensive training and ongoing supervision from a dedicated staff member.
The impact of Let’s Talk
The Let’s Talk scheme offers benefits for both people in prison and volunteer visitors. Regular visits offer men and women in prison the chance to build supportive, trusting relationships. These connections help reduce isolation, boost emotional wellbeing and self-esteem, strengthen communication skills, and encourage engagement with support services and prison life. Volunteers also benefit, often reporting a stronger sense of purpose, improved skills, and a positive impact on their own wellbeing.
In its first year, the scheme:
- received 107 referrals for people in prison
- recruited and trained 44 volunteers
- matched 66 individuals in custody with a volunteer visitor
- provided 181 social visits to individuals in custody (with individuals, on average, receiving one visit per month)
Every prisoner surveyed said the scheme helped them feel connected to someone and that they would recommend it to others. Eight out of ten said it made them better able to cope with the stresses of prison life and improved their overall wellbeing, while nearly nine in ten reported a boost in self-confidence.
How can you get involved?
The demand for an inclusive, culturally sensitive volunteer visitor service is clear, and those who are matched with a volunteer speak powerfully about its positive impact. To continue meeting this need and to reach even more people in prison, we need more volunteers to give their time and compassion.
The people we support through Let’s Talk often share the importance of being matched with someone from their own community, someone who, to outsiders, could be considered a family member or friend. Having a regular visitor who shares their background and experiences can offer a powerful source of support, particularly for those from communities that are overrepresented in the justice system.
If you think you could make a difference to someone in a prison near you, get in touch at volunteering@prisonadvice.org.uk. We would love to hear from you.
