Prison Reform Trust
Our objectives
The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 to inform and influence public debate on prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners, amidst concerns about a projected prison population of 48,000 by 1984. With the prison population in England and Wales projected to rise to as high as 114,800 by March 2028, the charity remains as important to civic society today as it was then.
Our vision is a fair, humane and effective justice system. PRT works to achieve positive change for people in prison and the wider criminal justice system.
Our aims are;
• Reduce the unnecessary use of prison. • Improve conditions for prisoners. • Promote equality and human rights in the justice system.
Our activities
PRT’s advice and information service responds to around 10,000 contacts from prisoners per year. It provides an invaluable service to people in prison by helping them to understand the complex rules and procedures in prison and how they should be treated. It also provides an important ear to the ground, alerting the charity to emerging policy issues and concerns which may need addressing with individual prisons or at the national policy level through its advocacy work.
PRT’s policy, communications and research team provides the bedrock of the charity’s policy and advocacy work. A key strength of PRT is its ability to pursue “principled opportunism”, reacting swiftly to opportunities to shift policy and priorities within government. By working closely with ministers and officials, responding to relevant consultations and highlighting concerns in parliament and the media, it allows the organisation to effect change at the national policy level. PRT’s policy team also provides the secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Penal Affairs and produces the highly regarding Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile. These are both crucial in enabling the charity to get the facts about prisons better known and influencing politicians and the wider public towards reform.
PRT is in the final year of its Building Futures Programmes, focussing on long-term prisoners, funded by the National Lottery. We are running a Next Generation Leadership Programme for aspiring governors, probation practitioners and policy leaders and is currently undertaking a solution-focused evaluation of why the imprisonment of women remains high. We have also recently launched a new Reward, Recognition and Active Citizenship award scheme for people in prison, called Hope and Fulfilment.