There an estimated 312,000 children with a parent in prison. Each week, 10,000 children visit a prison to see a family member. Prisoners' families experience significant emotional and financial hardship, often ostracised from friends and family:
Sussex Prisoners' Families supports families affected by the imprisonment of a family member. Our services enable families to cope emotionally and practically with the imprisonment of a loved one. We do this by:
Our service is unique in Sussex, and we provide support to families in the Sussex Crown and Magistrates courts, in local communities and in HMP Lewes. Our website also provides practical information for families to navigate the criminal justice system and access local support.
Delivering services in the courts, prisons and communities of Sussex, between 2014-2020 we have achieved the following:
3,764 Family members supported directly by SPF court family support team.
2,515 Family members supported by court teams with SPF information
422 family members received support from First Stop Advice line
455 Family members attend support group/drop in a family activities
613 adults and children were supported at prison family days
Volunteers:
127 court volunteers providing 16,236 hours
55 HMP Lewes volunteers providing 2,358 hours
14 administration and support volunteers providing 1,300 hours
Total of 196 volunteers providing 19,894 volunteer hours with a living wage value (£8.21) of £163,329
We have well developed relationships with local authority, criminal justice and community based services across Sussex and our partnership working approach helps us to reach more families.
What families say ...
“It was great to meet the members of the group who I had not met before, all in different stages of their own journey. It’s a strange bond we all have and we have an empathy and understanding of how each other feels. The group is certainly needed. Thank you again.”
“Dad has rung Mum a few times now and has received all the post now! We’ve never been in this situation before…just wanted to thank you so much for your help in this”
“It is so kind of you to be there just to listen to our moans, groans and complaints”.
"I had to wait all day before my Son was seen, he's never been in trouble before and I was so worried about him being in the cells... no one told me what was happening before your volunteer spoke to me and explained what was going on. She sat with me and put my mind at rest".
