Regional Family Support Co-ordinator, Families Outside
Families Outside is Scotland’s only national charity that works solely on behalf of families in Scotland affected by imprisonment, whether they are an adult, child or young person, no matter what their relationship to the person in prison is.
Families Outside could not provide this service in isolation and we appreciate the experience and assistance of the organisations we work in partnership with. These include The Croft Visitor Centre at Barlinnie, staff at the prison (HMP Barlinnie), The Wise Group’s New Routes Mentoring Service, Minority Communities Addiction Support Service (MCASS), Govan Law Centre, The PlayStation, The Space, Glasgow Life, Parkhead Citizens Advice Bureau and Scottish Families Affected by Drugs & Alcohol (SFAD), to name a few.
It is recognised that if people in prison can maintain a good bond with their family and/or friends they will be up to six times less likely to reoffend when they leave prison. However, families should be supported to maintain contact with loved ones in prison because it is their right, it is beneficial to their wellbeing. The outcomes we work towards are that families are:
In the latter stages of the pandemic, Families Outside’s West Family Support team were noticing a pattern of similar concerns being raised by the families we supported. Families were concerned about their loved one in prison’s physical and mental health and these concerns had a great impact on their own wellbeing and their capacity to cope with their own lives. Families were often spending time, energy and money trying to raise concerns, provide support and ask questions. Families were also trying to financially support people in prison as best they could. This included things like putting money into the canteen, buying things to support their mental wellbeing and helping them be able to phone or have visits regularly. Some of this is highlighted in a piece of research recently launched by Families Outside, called Paying The Price.
Families Outside decided to host a group of families to discuss these issues collectively. This included three families from Glasgow. The membership of the group is now eight and growing. The families initially gave informal evidence to a parliamentary discussion on health inequalities. Support was given, not only to get families to a stage where they had capacity to participate, but with any questions they had before or after event and the IT technicalities. After this event the group then met in-person and decided to formally name themselves as Outside Voices. Their experiences have been instrumental in shedding light on the experience of families of people in prison and removing the stigma that they face. Amongst other activities the group have provided formal evidence to parliament, fed into media requests, and advised Families Outside’s staff and board. Some of the attending families had this to say about their participation in the group:
“Working with others who also are keen to change our prison system for the benefit of our loved ones and us, the families left behind, is a positive experience. Progress is possible and in the meantime we help each other in the unusual circumstances in which we find ourselves, with our loved one being imprisoned.”
“Participation bridges the gap”
One of the early activities the group contributed to was to create content for a workshop as part of Families Outside’s annual conference. Group members were offered a way to relate their experiences in a workshop that looked at the cost to their own health and wellbeing. We recognise that this experience took courage and strength as families can often feel in a vulnerable position and we aimed to support the emotions that this experience may have raised for them. There are robust benefits to families, our organisation and the wider Community Justice sector in facilitating opportunities for families to talk about their experiences, if this is something they want to do.
If you would like to learn more about participation, peer support opportunities or the work of Families Outside, in general, you can email GetInvolved@familiesoutside.org.uk. You can also call our Information & Support Helpline on 0800 254 0088 or have a look at our website Families Outside.
