HALOW (Birmingham) has grown to become a major provider of Visitors’ Centre services, and has, in partnership with six prisons in the West Midlands area over the past 30 years. From dealing with 4,000 requests for help in 1990, the charity’s staff and volunteers assisted some 160,000 visitors’ a year at 6 prison visitors’ centres across the West Midlands by 2017. In October 2017 visitors’ services at HMYOI Brinsford, HMP Featherstone, HMP Stafford and HMYOI Swinfen Hall was transferred to Barnardo’s.

HALOW (Birmingham) continues to run services at HMP Birmingham and HMP Oakwood, together with a range of community-based projects with the aim of achieving better outcomes for people in the criminal justice system, their families and significant others. The past 10 years has also seen an increasing awareness amongst policy-makers the positive effect maintaining and strengthening family ties can have on reducing re-offending.