AVID is a national network of 13 visitor groups representing over 400 volunteers who visit people detained under immigration powers. Collectively, members of our network visit all seven Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs), all four Residential Short-Term Holding Facilities (RSTHF) and various prisons, and work in solidarity with more than 3000 people detained a year. We exist to reduce the immediate suffering of people detained and work towards a future without detention. We do this by enabling the vital role of visitors to immigration detention whilst facilitating collective action amongst UK visitor groups. Working with and through our members we are able to present a national picture of detention and strive to ensure that this evidence reaches decision makers and the public, working to improve the situation for every person in detention and ultimately, to end detention. Since 1994 we’ve been the only organisation supporting volunteer visitor groups in the UK and have a strong track record for advocacy on the conditions and treatment of people detained.
We provide 1:1 support to visitors and visitor groups, working with them from the earliest stages of establishing support and thereafter providing an ongoing programme of training, bespoke resources, and infrastructure provision. An important reason visitor groups are part of our network is to be connected to other visitors and to the wider context. We provide a programme of structured-peer support, skill-sharing and cultivate a community of care. This is underpinned by our Members Charter which are seven shared values at the heart of our network. These values keep us connected to our long-term vision - a future without detention. We utilise our unique position of oversight to connect with the wider movement, bringing evidence to key stakeholders and raising public awareness about the realities of detention.
