Sudbury Prison: Families and significant others strategy
Sudbury’s family strategy outlines how we support prisoners in our care to develop meaningful and constructive relationships with their family or significant others.
Applies to England and Wales
Our commitment to you
Family life is important to most people. For prisoners maintaining, or building up, good family ties is often important in motivating them to change and helping with their resettlement in the community.
Lord Farmer carried out 2 reviews on the importance of families and other relationships to prisoners’ rehabilitation. And the Ministry of Justice’s own research shows that for a prisoner who receives visits from a family member, the odds of reoffending are 39% lower than for those who do not.
This research underpins our determination to improve and enhance our offer for our prisoners’ families and significant others.
What we aim to do
We want to build a strategy for the whole family.
The main challenge for imprisoned fathers is restricted contact with their children.
Families can be defined as either a blood relative, legal or significant person that a prisoner identifies as their next of kin.
For prisoners who have experience of the care system or are serving indeterminate sentences, families may include a statutory service, personal advisor, or friend.
In most cases, whatever this ‘family’ looks like, their input is a strong protective factor and plays an important role in reducing reoffending and supporting resettlement.
Visits hall
Our visits hall is run by prison officers. It is a large open space that has seating arranged so that you can enjoy your time with your family member.
When you arrive, report to the main desk where you will be given a table number.
We have a snack bar which is run by peer support workers.
You can bring up to £25 in cash to spend per visit. (Please bring change if you can.)
On extended visits (2 hours or more), an outside area with further seating, will also be open, weather permitting.
Support and services offered
Visits booking-in hut
The booking-in hut is open all year-round.
Staff will arrive up to 30 minutes before the start of your visit.
When you arrive, we will check your paper identification for security purposes.
The hut has:
- seating
- a toy and book exchange
- lockers – for if you have not travelled by car
If you need help, please go to the main gate opposite the hut and speak to staff.
Secret diner café
The ‘Secret Diner’ is a prison-run, public café close to the prison car park.
It offers a relaxing space for visitors including refreshments such as Costa coffee, at a reasonable price, before or after visits.
The diner can help break those who are anxious about visiting a prison as it offers a more relaxed environment.
Children’s play facilities
Family engagement workers from PACT (the Prison Advice and Care Trust) and peer support workers provide activities for children during all social visits.
We have toys and PACT prepare neurodiverse distraction packs for children who would benefit from them.
The charity Make Some Noise regularly attends our extended visits.
They provide extra activities to break down barriers and ‘normalise’ playful interactions between children and their loved ones, strengthening relationships and preparing for release.
Family engagement work
Family members of prisoners are often referred to as ‘hidden victims’ – victims of the criminal justice system who are neither acknowledged nor given a platform to be heard.
As a rehabilitation prison, we strive to minimise the damaging effects imprisonment can have on families and, in particular children.
We will ensure the strategy considers the impact on the victims’ families, alongside supporting them and the prisoner while they serve their sentence.
Family and significant others (FaSOs) will soon be invited to attend celebration events each month.
These events will let them celebrate and support prisoners who have gained qualifications while at Sudbury or are being recognised for their outstanding achievements.
Parenting/relationship courses
Family learning is very important in helping to reduce reoffending and in building prisoners and their families’ self-confidence.
Prisoners who are given the opportunity to maintain healthy relationships can develop skills to improve the quality of these relationships during family learning.
Helping families to build positive relationships will ultimately:
- have positive outcomes for all involved
- reduce the risk of intergenerational crime and other unintentional negative effects that imprisonment may cause
PACT have many courses available for prisoners to complete.
Family support
We aim to use our open environment to help prisoners prepare for release by fostering strong FaSO connections.
By integrating the ‘golden thread’ of family support throughout the prisoner’s journey, we can better equip both prisoners and their FaSO for a successful transition back into normal life.
Providing the necessary tools for a positive start is essential for reducing reoffending and breaking the cycle of intergenerational offending.
We firmly believe that this approach plays a critical role in unlocking prisoners’ potential.
If you need general help from the prison please email FaSO.Sudbury@justice.gov.uk
For help with visits, email socialvisitssudbury@justice.gov.uk
Family engagement casework
PACT can support prisoners and their families.
We have 2 PACT family engagement workers. They enhance and develop the service for all prisoners and to effectively meet the needs of a cohort of prisoners and their families going through family court or other serious challenges.
As Sudbury is an open Category D prison, prisoners and their families’ needs are likely to change as they move through various stages of their sentence.
PACT is a national charity that provides support to prisoners, people with convictions, and their families. They aim to support people to make a fresh start and minimise the harm that can be caused by imprisonment on people who have committed offences, their families and local communities. Family and significant other (FaSO) days
We run FaSO days regularly throughout the year.
These days run from 10am to 3pm, and lunch is provided.
There are activities and toys available, and prisoners are actively encouraged to play with their children.
The days have different themes, which are highlighted on prison noticeboards.
Currently the charity ‘Make Some Noise’ support our FaSO days by providing music/drums/activities to encourage interactive play for families.
FaSO days are often run during school holidays, but we also cater for those without children.
Families get to spend time together.
And families can meet staff such as – prison offender managers, initial point of contact officers, family engagement workers, family lead and other professionals.
Before the visit, prisoners can talk to staff about any concerns and prisoners can stay behind at the end for a debrief.
If a family member wishes to talk to a particular member of staff, they can ask a member of staff on the day, ring the contact number within this strategy, or email FaSO.Sudbury@justice.gov.uk
PACT support is offered equally to both prisoners and their FaSO.
Photographs can taken at a FaSO day, where consent is given. This is a vital part of the FaSO day as many family members treasure these photos, especially if they do not access regular social visits due to travel distance or other commitments.
Prisoners with experience of the care system
We know some prisoners will have been in care and may have additional needs.
When prisoners who have already disclosed their care experience history arrive, their prison offender manager will ensure they are offered the support they need.
We encourage others to tell us as soon as they feel ready, so we can properly signpost and assist them.
Prisoners who have care experience may wish to have their personal advisor or significant others visit them. We approve most requests to encourage building connections.
They may also be eligible for specialist funding or external support for release.
The head of offender management delivery is the lead for this group.
Families can email OMU.Sudbury@justice.gov.uk
Making positive connections
We work with our safer custody team to identify prisoners who may be isolated or may not have had positive contact from friends or family in a long period of time (or consistently).
These prisoners are invited to attend our regular Making Positive Connections peer support group.
Supported by PACT and other agencies, prisoners can take part in social activities that breakdown barriers and build community spirit.
We also offer the official visitors scheme, led by chaplaincy.
Safeguarding measures
The prison teams work together to meet the needs of prisoners and keep safeguarding as a priority.
As Sudbury is an open category D prison, it can be an ideal place for prisoners and their families to access professional support and have their needs recognised by professionals.
All safeguarding services have an ethos that is deeply based on working confidentially, with safeguarding children always at the forefront.
All staff undertake safeguarding training and can offer advice.
See Sudbury Prison’s main GOV.UK page for contact details if you have a safeguarding concern.
For further reference to safeguarding measures, please see the HMPPS Child Safeguarding Policy Framework
What have we achieved?
We ran 13 fun, themed FaSO days in 2024 to 2025.
We ran 12 kids’ club sessions for families to have breakfast together to normalise the children’s experience of being around dad/granddad/uncle/brother again in readiness for final release.
We have launched low-key visits for families with neurodivergent children. These visits offer a calmer space with limited numbers, distraction packs and PACT support available.
We continue to offer Homework club, Storybook Dads, Share-a-Story, family court support and free children’s and adult’s book exchange.
PACT collect feedback from FaSOs through visits.
We continue to help support prisoners and their families in maintaining their family ties by offering a range of visits for FaSOs, including for those who have difficulty in attending regular social visits.
We are committed to meeting the targets set. We want to involve friends, families and significant others in as much as we can to support your loved ones through their journey with us.
You said, we did
This year we will:
- expand the number of FaSO days to 14, offer 12 kids’ clubs and 12 low-key visits – making a total of 38 extended visits
- offer weekly homework clubs
- offer 12 Making Positive Connections groups for potentially isolated prisoners
- work with new partners such as Mother’s Union
- continue our working relationships with PACT and Make Some Noise
- review our Secret Café menu in the visits hall and provide new toys for visits play
- expand on our neurodiversity packs and develop an electronic games corner
How will we measure our success?
- prisoner family needs analysis
- community council forum/feedback
- reducing reoffending monthly meetings
- His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons inspections
- Managing Quality of Prisoner Life audits
- visitors forum/feedback
- safer prisons team will invite families or significant others to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) reviews
- prison performance measure
Staffing structure
- Governor
- Head of Reducing Reoffending
- Head of Chaplaincy
- Family and Significant Others Lead
- Family and Significant Other Champion – a custodial manager
- Family and Significant Other Champion – a custodial manager
- Family Engagement Manager
- Family Support Worker