Prisoners' families & children Prison visitors' guides HMP Lewes This guide includes information that you may find useful for the duration of the time your family or friend is a resident at HMP Lewes. If you notice anything that is incorrect on this page, please contact us at [email protected] Any further information can be found on the prison website at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lewes-prison or you can ring the main switchboard on 01273 785 100. Visiting times How to book a visit Who can visit? What to expect at your visit Financial assistance for visits Keeping in touch Sending property to a prisoner Further support and advice If you need support You can email the Pact team at HMP Lewes directly at [email protected]. For more information, support and advice on all aspects of the justice system, you can contact the Prisoners’ Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003 (9am – 8pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 3pm at the weekend). Address: HMP Lewes1 Brighton RoadLewesEast SussexBN7 1EA Governor: Hannah Lane Pact Worker contact: TBC – [email protected] Safer Custody line: 01273 785 392 Visitors’ Centre Telephone: 07850 965 340 Visitors’ Centre Email: [email protected] Visiting times: Monday 2pm to 3.30pm Tuesday 2pm to 3.30pm Wednesday No visits Thursday 2pm to 3.30pm Friday No visits Saturday 2pm to 3.30pm Sunday 2pm to 3.30pm Booking your visit: In order to improve the booking experience for visits Lewes are now moving to the online booking portal which is now available for all your families and friends to book a visit. To book a visit, your family or friends will need to complete the follow. Visit the website address www.gov.uk/prison-visits Your family or friends will then be asked to enter; Your name, Date of Birth, Prison Number and the Prison Name (HMP Lewes) A request can be made for three separate dates, for any one visit. The visits booking team will then provide a response confirming a visits has been booked on one of the three requested dates. If none of the requested dates are available, the person requesting the visits will be notified and asked to re-submit a further three dates. Should anyone not have internet access, visits can still be booked by telephone by calling 01273 785271 during usual office hours seven days a week, although the peak time of calls is between 12.00hrs -14.00hrs, so we advise calling outside those times. If you wish any family members or friends to visit, you must ensure that you have completed an ‘Add a Visitor’ form, which can be found on all wings. Your wing staff will be able to support you in completing this task if required. The position of extra visits for remand prisoners and the ability for visitors to book visits as they leave the establishment following a completed visit remain under review and have not been re-introduced at this time. Who can visit? There will be a maximum of 3 adult visitors per prisoner and a maximum of 5 visitors in total (including children). To visit someone in an adult prison, you must be: aged 18 or over, or under 18 accompanied by an eligible adult a partner, parent, sibling, child, foster-parent, grandparent, carer, or significant other of the person you are visiting, or an individual on whom the person in prison relies for emotional support At your visit Security checks You may be required to have your finger or thumb prints scanned as part of a security check. You may also have an iris scan. Sometimes you will be sniffed by security dogs. Make sure you wear clothes that are not contaminated by any form of drug as you will be returned to the Visitors’ Centre and will not be able to have your visit. You may also be searched by a prison officer (of the same gender). During your visit, officers will be with you throughout and will open and lock doors in front of and behind you at all stages. Identification Policy For all visits you will need to take secure self- identification e.g. passport, citizen documentation, driving licence and a household bill as proof of address. In most cases you will need two forms of documentation. If you do not have a passport or driving license you can order a citizen ID card that you can use. You can find out more here www.citizencard.com. You can also receive a 10% discount on your application by contacting [email protected]. Acceptable Forms of Identification - Social Visitors (Aged 16 and Over1) Visitors may identify themselves using one of the following: List A: passports identity cards from an EU or European Economic Area (EEA) country UK photocard driving licences EU or EEA driving licences NI Electoral identity cards a US passport card a proof of age card recognised under PASS with a unique reference number (This includes the Citizen ID card) an armed forces identity card a UK biometric residence permit (BRP) If the visitor is unable to produce any of the above, staff may accept combinations of one identification document from List B, supported by one document from List C: List B: a Home Office travel document (convention travel document, stateless person’s document, one-way document or certificate of travel) an older person’s bus pass a Freedom Pass a proof of age card recognised under the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) without a unique reference number (please refer to List A where a unique reference number is present) List C: a birth or adoption certificate an education certificate from a regulated and recognised educational institution (such as an NVQ, SQA, GCSE, A level or degree certificate) a rental or purchase agreement for a residential property (signed and dated) a marriage or civil partnership certificate a bank, building society or credit union current account card (on which the claimed identity is shown) Children’s Identification Policy Birth certificate Red book (by special arrangement) Dress code For security, health and safety reasons, some prisons have a specific dress code for visitors and others have a more relaxed policy, making assessments on a case-by-case basis. At the time we compiled this information, Lewes's guidelines were as follows: modest dress, no work clothes (including uniforms), no sports shirts or football shirts, no hoods, no mobile phones, no offensive logos, no sunglasses or headscarves unless worn for religious reasons, no ripped jeans, no vest tops, no short skirts or dresses. What can I bring in for my children? You may bring in: dummies, baby wipes, nappies, prescribed medication. Please note that some of these items may be bagged and tagged in the Visitors’ Centre prior to entry into the prison. If you would like to know more specific information on what you can bring, please contact the prison directly on the details at the top of the page. Food and drink If you would like to know more specific information on what you can bring, please contact the prison directly on the details at the top of the page. Money You cannot give money to the prisoner during a visit. Please see the section on sending a prisoner money below. Banned items Do not attempt to bring any of the following into prison during your visit: illegal drugs, alcohol, weapons, a camera, a mobile phone, indecent or obscene material, material that threatens the security of the prison, material that is written in code, car or house keys, any electronic devices including – SIM cards and memory sticks. If you are unsure what you can bring, contact the prison directly. Financial Assistance for Visits If you are on a low income or receive benefits you may be entitled to financial assistance for the cost of visiting your relative in prison. Help is provided by the Assisted Prison Visits Unit (APVU). Click here for more information: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-prison-visits Keeping in Touch Phone To speak to a prisoner on the phone, the prisoner has to call you using a prison phone. Prison staff can listen to and record most types of call. Some calls are not monitored, for example, when a prisoner calls a legal advisor. Letters Letters to prisoners should be addressed to: Prisoner’s name and prison numberHMP Lewes1 Brighton RoadLewesEast SussexBN7 1EA You must write your own name and address on the back of the envelope or it will not be delivered to the prisoner. If you do not know the prisoners’ prison number, please address the envelope as above with the prisoner’s date of birth next to his name. Email This prison uses EmailaPrisoner.com. Through this service, family and friends can send a message which is printed out and delivered by prison staff by hand. Once you have signed up, you will receive an activation link via email which you must click on in order to activate your account and send a message. You must buy a minimum of £5 credit in order to use the service, which runs at a cost of 40p per email and at no charge to the recipient. Voicemail Family members and friends can sign up to PrisonVoicemail.com, a service which allows social contacts to exchange voicemails with prisoners. On signing up, you will be given a unique local landline number you can call at any time to leave a message; this message will be instantly available for your loved one to listen to. Prisoners can check their messages by dialling the same unique number from any phone in the prison and may leave a reply. When the message has been heard, the family member receives an instant text notification, signalling they may leave another message. In order to access messages, the prisoner pays the cost of a landline call, but the cost of the service itself is paid by the family or friend. Plans start from £5 per month. Secure Video Calls This prison offers a secure video call service called Prison Video. You will need to use the Prison Video app on your phone or tablet device to have a video call with someone in prison. The Prison Video app is available to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store (or equivalent app stores outside the UK). HMPPS has produced a user guide and a list of frequently asked questions that will give you all the information you need to start using Prison Video. You can find this at https://www.prisonersfamilies.org/change-of-video-call-service Only people aged 18 or over can register for an account with Prison Video. You will need to provide your name, address, and date of birth, and upload photos of your ID and face. You will also need to add details of any other people who wish to take part in the video calls with you, such as children, and upload a clear photo of each participant’s face. You will need to upload ID for people over the age of 18 only, unless the prison specifically asks for anything else. Video calls will be free for now, while visits are affected by COVID-19 restrictions. This will be reviewed as HMPPS lift restrictions in prisons and more visits can take place. Sending Property to a Prisoner All prisoners are able to buy the items that they want or need through the approved suppliers, whose catalogues are available in the prison. Any prisoner wishing to have clothes brought into the prison must first submit an application. Once the application has been approved by the prison, the item should be sent in the post directly to the prison with the prisoner’s name and a return address so that they can be checked and placed on the prisoner’s property card. Whilst prison staff will try to ensure the prisoner receives the items, this may not always be possible. In the case that the items are rejected, they will be returned to the visitor. Please avoiding bringing in the following items: plain black or navy items, polo shirts, no army style clothing or gang related clothing, no items with side pockets, no three quarter length trousers. The above process also applies to court clothes. Appropriate court clothes are defined as the following: suit trousers or skirt, shirt or blouse, jacket, tie, shoes, belt (no large buckles). Should there be any additional items within the package, they will be returned, and nothing will be passed on to the prisoner. Please note that court clothes are held in reception until the prisoner is actually going to court. Lastly, jeans, t-shirts and trainers will not be accepted as court clothes. How do I send money to a prisoner? From 2nd November 2020 the way prisoners can send and receive money has changed. You can no longer send money by bank transfer, cheque, postal order or send cash by post to any prison. You’ll need to send money through the Money to Prisoners Portal using a debit card instead. The Money to Prisoners Portal service is free, secure and available in all prisons in England and Wales. To get started on the Portal you will need the prisoner's date of birth and prisoner number. If you cannot use the online service, you may be able to apply for an exemption - for example if you: are unable to use a computer, a smart phone or the internet do not have a debit card You cannot give money to the prisoner during a visit. Further Support and Advice Pact family support will be available by email and you can access this by contacting [email protected]. If your issue is complex and you need to talk to us in person, please include your number in the email and tell us that you would like a call back - it would also be helpful if you could let us know whether we are able to leave a message if there is no answer - and we will aim to get back to you as soon as we possibly can. If you have urgent concerns about the welfare of your loved one in prison, please call the prison Safer Custody line directly. Prisoners’ Families Helpline You can also contact the Prisoners’ Families Helpline for advice and support on all aspects of the criminal justice system: Call 0808 808 2003 (9am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 3pm Saturday and Sunday) Email the team on [email protected] Fill in a contact form and request a call back at prisonersfamilies.org Safer Custody Team If you are worried about your loved one while they are a resident at this prison, you can contact the Safer Custody team on 01273 785 392. You may be asked to leave a voicemail. Please make sure you include: Your name. The reason that you are calling. The name of your family member/friend (and their prison number if you know it). Please wait at least 24 hours for a call back before contacting the prison again. If your concerns are immediate or life-threatening please call the prison switchboard on 01273 785 100.