Archive Website of the UK government

Who can volunteer?

You usually need to be over 18 to apply to help detainees, prisoners and offenders. For some posts you may need to have a security or criminal record check.

If you have a criminal record, you may still be able to volunteer. Your own experiences may be useful to others.

Volunteering to visit people detained by police

You can volunteer to check that people held in police custody are kept in proper conditions and are being treated fairly.

You can find out more about visiting people in custody on the Independent Custody Visiting Association’s website.

If you’re interested in becoming a visitor, contact your local police authority.

• Independent Custody Visiting Association Opens new window

• Find a police authority Opens new window

Helping young and vulnerable people being questioned by the police

An ‘appropriate adult’ is someone who ‘stands in’ for a parent or guardian when a young person is being interviewed by the police. This adult makes sure the young person is treated properly, and helps them communicate with the police.

Appropriate adults also help vulnerable people, such as a person with a learning disability or mental health condition.

To find out how to volunteer, contact your local youth offending team or the National Appropriate Adult Network.

You will need to have security and criminal record checks and training to carry out the role.

• Volunteering - National Appropriate Adult Network website Opens new window

• Find your local youth offending team Opens new window

Volunteering to visit prisoners

Some prisons run schemes where volunteers visit offenders, listen to them and help them to get their lives back on track.

You may also want to help prisoners who are finishing their time in prison, to help them return to the community.

The National Association of Official Prison Visitors is an independent organisation that you can contact if you are interested in visiting offenders.

You can also speak to your local prison about volunteering.

• National Association of Official Prison Visitors Opens new window

• Find a prison - search using the A to Z list or by region Opens new window

Volunteering to support the families of prisoners

You can volunteer to support the families of prisoners during prison visits, to make visits less stressful and more positive.

This could include:

• helping families in the prison visitors’ centres
• looking after the children of prisoners in the play area
• serving food and drinks to families

If you want to volunteer, speak to the voluntary sector coordinator or the manager of the visitors’ centre at the local prison. You can also contact charities and regional groups like the ones linked to below.

• Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) Opens new window

• Ormiston Trust Opens new window

• Find a prison - search using the A to Z list or by region Opens new window

Volunteering to check prison and immigration detention standards

Every prison and immigration removal centre has an ‘Independent Monitoring Board’ (IMB).

By volunteering to become a board member you can help prisoners by:

• making sure they’re being treated well
• checking the state of prison facilities

You must be able to give two or three days a month to work for your local IMB. Your employers must give you reasonable time off work to carry out your duties. You will have to go through a security check if you become a member. No special qualifications are required and full training, at a local and national level, is provided.

You will need to fill out an application form. To ask for a form and find out about vacancies in your area, email:

imb@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

• Prison finder - search using the A to Z list or by region Opens new window

• Independent Monitoring Boards Opens new window

Mentoring offenders on probation and young offenders

You can volunteer to advise and support (‘mentor’) an offender on probation or a young person who has broken the law.

You may be asked to help an offender:

• register with a GP
• keep work appointments, if they are doing community work as part of their sentence
• apply for benefits, training courses and jobs
• with reading and writing, or getting back into education

To find out more, contact your local probation trust. Probation trusts often work with local charities and can let you know about volunteering opportunities.

You can also ask your probation trust about working with local ‘circles of support and accountability’, which help stop former sex offenders from reoffending.

If you would like to support young offenders, contact your local youth offending team.

• Probation - what it is

• Find your local probation trust Opens new window

• Find your local youth offending team Opens new window

Helping young offenders to stay out of trouble

If you want to help young offenders stay out of trouble, you could join a youth offender panel. These deal with young offenders referred to them by the courts.

The panel can arrange for a young offender to:

• say sorry to the victim
• carry out work in the community - like cleaning up an estate
• get help with problems like alcohol or drug misuse

If you’re interested in joining a youth offender panel, contact your local youth offending team. You need to be able to devote about three hours a fortnight to the panel.

• Find your local youth offending team Opens new window

More useful links

• Sentencing, prison and probation (crime and justice section)

• Family and friends of prisoners (crime and justice section)