Written by our member Families Outside

Children are walking miles along dark country roads in winter, mum’s are having to choose which child gets to visit their dad each week, families are skipping meals to afford travel costs, and families are making 11-hour journeys for a 30 minute visit with their loved one in prison.

This is the reality for many families affected by imprisonment travelling to visit a loved one in prison, as laid bare in a recent report, ‘No Easy Journey’, from Families Outside. The report paints a stark picture of the costs and impacts of imprisonment to children and families and calls attention to the challenges they face in maintaining contact with a loved one in prison.

Key findings include: families are struggling with the financial costs of visiting leaving some unable to visit and others accumulating debt in efforts to maintain consistent contact;  local travel services do not effectively and fairly service all prisons and the timings of prison visits are often not coordinated to consider local travel options, meaning families are having unduly long journeys and cutting visits short; many people are not placed in their local prison meaning some families are unable to visit, others are incurring huge costs of money and time to visit, and some have even given up their homes to be closer to the prison their loved one is in; finally, the Help with Prison Visits Scheme – the only current financial support available to families to help with travel costs for visits – is in urgent need of review to ensure it meets the needs of families.

Speaking on their experience of travelling from the Scottish islands to the mainland to attend a prison visit, a family member said:  “It is so stressful to travel all that way, and incur expenses I could not afford, just for an hour-long visit. The result of living in the islands and financial issues was that I could only manage a few visits per year. I tried the video visit and that helped, but there is no privacy, and it was very noisy… I feel strongly that Island families suffer more than mainland families due to the distance and cost involved. This means fewer visits which impacts negatively on the prisoner and the family.”

The challenges facing families are hugely concerning given that research shows the positive role that family contact can play in reducing reoffending and that meaningful connection between families and loved ones in prison, where appropriate, can support the health and wellbeing of everyone involved. Moreover, visits also play an important role in upholding the right of children to maintain contact with a parent in prison. 

Families Outside is working closely with stakeholders to take forward the report recommendations and positive progress is being made. Recently for example, the Scottish Prison Service has increased the Help with Prison Visits Scheme mileage allowance from 13p to 20p. This is a welcome step but there is more to be done and action must continue at pace to ensure families no longer pay such a heavy price to maintain contact with a loved one in prison.

To drive further action, Families Outside is launching a travel campaign in January 2025 to raise  awareness of the travel challenges facing families, promote information of the supports available to families, and to encourage behaviour change to support improved outcomes for families. To find out more, and ways to get involved, visit our campaign webpage, or get in touch with us at events@familiesoutside.org.uk.

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