Service user involvement
We believe that the people we support should be genuine partners in everything we do, whether that’s shaping the services we deliver, or influencing the campaigns we run.
Call to Connect: A call for fairer charges for phone calls in prison
Life in prison is hard, and it has been getting harder. They are overcrowded, understaffed, falling apart and many people spend up to 23 hours a day locked in their cells. As a result incidents of self-harm, mental health issues, self-inflicted deaths, violence and substance misuse have all risen signifcantly.
Ensuring that people in prison maintain relationships with their friends and family not only supports better mental health and wellbeing but has been proven to support rehabilitation. You are 39% less likely to reoffend if you have maintained family connections during your time in prison.
Visits aren’t always possible, especially at Christmas, so for most people in prison phone calls are the main way they can keep connected to their family. Phone calls are more expensive in prison than they are in the outside world, and people in prison are paid very little, often as low as £10 a week or less. Many people just can’t afford to call their families and loved ones regularly.
Our Justice ExChange, a national forum of Nacro service users who have had contact with the justice system, highlighted this issue as something they had struggled with and see others in prison struggle with, especially over key holidays such as Christmas.
Watch Our Video
To learn about why keeping connections with people in the outside world is vital for families on the outside and those in prison, not only for their mental heath and wellbeing but to keep them connected to a positive future when they are released.
Christmas: Time to Connect
Christmas is particularly difficult, especially for people with children. There are over 100,000 children spending Christmas with a parent in prison. There are no visits on Christmas Day and most of the day is spent in cells. Being able to speak to loved ones on the phone is one way for people in prison to be able to get through the day, to keep their connection to a positive future on the outside. And for their family and friends on the outside, its a way to connect with the people that they love and ensure they are coping during what can be a really difficult time. That is why we are choosing to highlight this issue at Christmas, though it is a problem all year round.
(Image kindly supplied by finecellwork.co.uk)
Nacro, alongside the Justice ExChange, are calling for changes so people in prison can keep connections with their loved ones. We are calling for:
- Cheaper call pricing, which takes into account how little people in prison are paid (often as low as £10 a week), and is more reflective of what people pay on the outside
- Mobile and landline calls to be priced the same, like they usually are on the outside. In prison, calls to mobiles are, on average, twice as expensive as calls to landlines.
- Free calls during key holiday times, such as Christmas and other religious festivals.
Read more about life and work in prison
Nacro Justice ExChange: Work and Wages in Prison
Read the first in a series of briefings that will examine the practical steps that can be taken to support people in contact with the criminal justice system to create better futures.
Mental Health in Prison
People in prison are more likely to suffer with mental health problems than the general population and over half of people in prison report mental health issues such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. More is needed to fix the crisis of mental health in prisons.