Pact are currently looking for friendly and enthusiastic volunteers to support friends and families during their visit with their loved one in prison.

What you will be doing

Visitors Centre:

To offer a friendly and welcoming environment within the Family & Visitors’ Centre, where people visiting the prison can spend time before and after their visit.

To assist with booking/checking in of visitors in line with Pact and the prison’s procedures.

To encourage families to access support or signposting them for their needs by interacting with visitors, offering information and advice as appropriate on a confidential basis and ensuring first time visitors are provided with enhanced support and reassurance.

To help maintain an area in the visitors’ centre for children, which may include displays of children’s artwork, relevant posters and information, as well as toys and other materials to engage children before and after a visit.

To liaise with prison staff, including visits and security staff, to ensure close co-operation in the smooth and efficient reception of visitors at the prison.

Play Area:

To promote opportunities for children to engage with their loved one who is in prison in an appropriate way during a visit and family days.

To ensure the play equipment is safe, clean, and able to fulfil its requirements, storing and restocking as required.

Refreshment Services:

To provide an excellent, friendly, and welcoming refreshment service to prisoners and their families in the café of the visitors centre and visits hall.

Family Visits Days:

To support the planning and delivery of an agreed number of family/teen days per year and to help Pact deliver high quality facilitated play/activities appropriate for the age ranges attending the family days.

General:

Adhering to policies and practises relevant to this role: Confidentiality; Health & Safety; Child Protection and Safeguarding; Equality and Diversity; and Prison security rules etc.

Reporting any incidents and concerns related to Health and Safety or Safeguarding to a member of the Pact staff team.

What we offer

Training:

Safeguarding, Professional Boundaries, and Equality and Diversity training is required for all our roles, as well training related to the role. You will also have access to a range of other training opportunities.

Expenses:

Travel costs, via public transport or private car (mileage) will be reimbursed including travel to attend training. Subsistence, i.e., lunch may also be reimbursed, in accordance with our expenses policy.

Checks:

This role is subject to the following checks which our staff will be on hand to support you through:

3 years of employment history or other activities (e.g., studying, travelling)
Enhanced DBS check (Disclosure & Barring Service) with child barring
Security Vetting by Her Majesty’s Prison Service.

Please be aware that these necessary checks need to be completed before you can start and can take several weeks to process.

Support and Supervision:

We will provide a full induction and regular supervision to support you in the role.

Benefits to you:

Help you feel connected to those you are helping in the community
Work with like-minded people from different backgrounds who share a common interest
Developing experience and knowledge of the Criminal Justice System
Volunteering for Pact can be very rewarding and fulfilling and provide you with a sense of purpose
Opportunity to develop valuable and transferable skills and subject to satisfactory volunteering with Pact, we will be happy to provide references in support of applications for employment
Use your hours volunteered towards student placement hours required