Pact is a national Catholic charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions, and their children and families, by providing caring and life-changing services at every stage of the criminal justice process: in court, in prison, on release, and in the community.
From 01 October 2022, Pact’s family services have been extended to a further 24 prisons. Pact now provides family services in 6 out of 10 public-sector prisons within England and Wales. The charity is now able to support more families. New areas of work include the West Midlands, Kent, Sussex and the South West of England. The Ministry of Justice has awarded Pact these new contracts which will run for a minimum of five years and up to seven years. The charity welcomes the stability this time frame provides.
Additionally, funding has been secured for Pact to continue operating the Prisoners’ Families Helpline for a further three years. The Helpline has served over 36,000 callers in the last 12 months alone. Pact staff and trained volunteers listen, give advice and signpost callers to specialist services across the justice sector.
For the full list of places where Pact work, please visit https://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/prison-visitors-guides.
Pact’s roots are in the Catholic Church and, more than 120 years after we were founded, our values remain those of Catholic Social Teaching. Being part of CSAN is one way in which we nourish those roots. We now look forward to making the most of even more opportunities to work collaboratively with the diocesan Caritas teams and other Catholic charities in the network. The fact that the Ministry of Justice has entrusted this additional work to Pact, reflects well on our organisation and on all of us whose approach is guided by the values of our faith.
Andy Keen-Downs, CEO Pact
To watch a video finding out the type of work that Pact facilitate, watch Jamie and Lewis’s conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWgUIkl9qXA
In support of their Christmas campaigns, Pact are hosting two carol services, one in London on 06 December and one in Nottingham on 08 December.
If you or anyone you know might benefit from Pact’s help and guidance through the criminal justice system, please call the National Prisoners’ Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003 or visit www.prisonersfamilies.org.
