Our Work

Action for Prisoners' Families (APF) is the national federation of services supporting families of prisoners.

APF provides its members with opportunities to participate in a national network that encourages the exchange of knowledge, skills and ideas.

This in turn informs both the development of nationally agreed guidelines on good practice in support work with families of prisoners and APF's policy work with central government, the criminal justice system and policy organisations.

Our work includes the following;

Influencing government policy
By participating at a national level in government initiatives and undertaking research, APF are able to raise awareness, influence and contribute to national policy.

APF sits on various external committees representing the interest of our members and prisoners' families and was involved in The Halliday Sentencing Review and the Social Exclusion Unit Report, Reducing Re-offending by Ex-Prisoners.

Campaigning & Awareness Raising
Action for Prisoners' Families promote the just treatment of prisoners' families by the prison system and society across the UK.

Since 1990 we have been working to raise awareness of the impact imprisonment has on children and families. There is still a long way to go. Many community based services remain unaware of the specific needs of the families and children of prisoners. We are calling for all voluntary and statutory agencies to respond to the needs of prisoners' children and families and ensure vital family relationships are maintained.

Expanding provision for families of prisoners
Setting up a new support service for families of prisoners can be demanding and requires a great deal of commitment. APF is able to provide help and guidance and when appropriate will visit member services. For those setting up a completely new support service there is a 'start up' grant available through the APF New Initiative Fund.

Prisoners' Families Helpline - 0808 808 2003
The Prisoners' Families Helpline is the freephone national helpline for anyone with a friend or relative in prison, launched in June 2003.

Opening hours:

Daytime:
Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm and Saturday 10am - 3pm
Evenings:
Monday 6pm - 8pm

Members Support
The Regional Office in Norwich is the base for APF membership services and administration. For information about membership, please see the Membership Area of our site. Contact Mark Heybourne (01603 610 888 or email mark@actionpf.org.uk) for information about setting up and operating a prisoners' family support service.

New resources
With funding from the Nationwide Foundation and based on consultation with members and families, APF has produced a set of exciting resources for families of prisoners; The Outsiders - survival guides for partners and families of prisoners. Titles include; Sent to Prison, Telling the Children, Keeping in Touch, Living with Separation and Preparing for Release. For information, please see the Publications and Resources area of our website.

Publications
APF has produced a number of publications relevant to supporting families of prisoners and full details are on our 'APF publications list'.

APF also produces a regular magazine 'Action News' which features information on the work of our members and developments in the policy field. For information about all our resources, see the Publications and Resources area of our site.

Working towards Quality
APF has produced the Good Practice Guidelines for Prisoners' Families Support Groups based on the experience of members who operate support services. There are also Good Practice Guidelines for Prison Visitor Centres and Quality Standards for Prison Visitors' Centres.

APF eNetwork
A regular email based news and information service keeps members up to date with the latest developments.

Regional Forums
APF organise regular member forums around the country. Forums provide a valuable opportunity for members to discuss their issues and receive up-dates on the activities of APF. Putting members in touch with one another also encourages links between services to further the quality of support for families.

Training
Training can be organised by APF with costs kept to a minimum. We recently provided training courses run by Parentline Plus at no charge to members and would like to hear from members about new training needs or ideas for training courses.

Conferences and special events
Action for Prisoners' Families is encouraging prisons to take part in the Playday in Prison Challenge.

Playday is on 1 August and celebrates children's right to play. APF is working in partnership with coordinators National Playday to encourage families to play together on prisons family visits. For more information please contact sophie@actionpf.org.uk or sarah@actionpf.org.uk

APF 2007 AGM and conference will take place on 18 October, on the theme of ‘Family Voices’. Speakers include John Bird, founder of the Big Issue. There will be multi-media presentations from members and film-makers, as well as a panel session. Email conference@actionpf.org.uk for further information.

APF New Initiative Fund
As a result of a grant from the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, APF has established a small grants scheme for members. The fund allows support groups/services and visitors centres to respond to the needs of families with new services or put into action a creative idea offering grants of up to £4,000. The scheme also allows a £500 start up grant for brand new support groups. Click here for information.