Our Call Centre, which offers over the phone support to women serving prison sentences, has connected to HMP Holloway making it the second female prison benefitting from the service - the only one if its kind in the prison service. 

Four secure phone lines in the prison are providing free, confidential advice from fellow women prisoners in HMP Send who train to become qualified advice workers.

Advice is offered on a range of practical issues including housing, finances and signposting to other sources of support.  As the support comes from other women who are also serving custodial sentences, an added level of trust and credibility is established as they are going through similar experiences to the women who are seeking support.

Women who wish to contact the Call Centre simply phone a free, secure phone line which connects to HMP Send.  The women working at the Call Centre train towards gaining a Level 3 in Advice and Guidance - equivalent to two 'A' levels - and gain valuable vocational experience through helping other women.

“I’m delighted that women at Holloway are now able to benefit from this very valuable service,” said Maria McNicholl, Head of Prison Services at St Giles Trust who developed the Call Centre service. “Women in custody have very specific needs and if we can tailor support to meet these, the chances of somebody successful resettling is greatly increased. We will now be looking to extend the service to other women’s prisons.”

The Call Centre opened in HMP Send in September 2010 and is linked to nearby HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Surrey. 18 women in HMP Send are now fully qualified to Level 3 in Advice and Guidance, with a further two about to gain the qualification.