The impact of a prison sentence for women is often very traumatic and disruptive and specialist support is often required to help women get their lives back on track.  Women's role as carers means their dependents frequently suffer during their time in custody.  Issues such as self harm, mental health problems and suicide are all more prevalent amongst women who go to prison. The re-offending rate amongst women who have served less than a year remains high at over 60%.

We provide services which help women to resettle and prevent the likelihood of re-offending.

WIRE (Women's Information and Resettlement for Ex-offenders)

This service meets women on release from prison and provides practical resettlement support, particularly around housing, finances and engaging with other services, such as those helping with substance misuse and mental health issues.   Women who leave prison are often vulnerable to negative pressures from ex-partners so caseworkers on the team are specially trained in dealing with these issues, particularly those involving domestic abuse.  This smalled, highly skilled team are all trained, reformed ex-offenders themselves with direct experience of the criminal justice system.

The WIRE postcard is available here.

Call Centre

Our Call Centre in HMP Send provides over-the-phone support to women held in nearby HMP Downview.  The phoneline is staffed entirely by women serving sentences in HMP Send who are trained to become qualified advice workers during the course of their role.  Their advice skills, coupled with their direct experiences of what it is like to serve a prison sentence, mean they are ideally placed to provide a credible, trusted advice service. We are keen to extend the availability of the Call Centre to other women's prisons, enabling more people to benefit from its services.

Click here for the Call Centre info sheet.

KIM (Keep It Moving)

This project helps young women who are either already caught up in the criminal justice system or at risk of becoming so increase their skills and employability. It also helps address any other issues such as housing problems which might be preventing them from moving their lives forward.

Click here for the KIM poster.