Swansea Prison: Families and significant others strategy
Swansea’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
You can find visiting information and book a visit on the Swansea Prison main page.
Our commitment to you
Families come in all shapes and sizes. When we refer to ‘families’, we include relatives, partners, legal guardians, friends, and others who play a meaningful role in someone’s life.
At HMP Swansea we will:
- support prisoners and families to maintain good relationships
- reduce barriers to visits and offer a welcoming, child friendly environment
- provide information, guidance and support to families throughout the custodial journey
- help develop positive parenting skills and support parents’ involvement in their children’s education and wellbeing
- involve families in resettlement and sentence planning
- offer support with strained or complex relationships
- link residents and families with local authorities and specialist services
- ensure staff receive training on family and child related issues
Support and services offered
Visitors’ Centre
Operated by PACT, the visitors’ centre provides a safe and welcoming space, support with identification checks, and access to information and refreshments.
Children’s play facilities
Both the visitors’ centre and visit hall offer age-appropriate, safe play resources. Additional sensory equipment is available for children with additional learning needs.
Family engagement work
PACT’s family engagement manager and team provide support to residents and families, help rebuild relationships, assist with child welfare matters, and liaise with social services where required.
Secure social video calls
Residents can access secure video calls, supporting families who experience difficulties travelling or who require more flexible contact.
Parenting and relationship courses
HMP Swansea offers courses such as Practical Parenting, relationship support, and guided workbooks aimed at strengthening family ties.
Family support
Support is available for families experiencing stress, uncertainty, or emotional difficulty. Family and Friends of Prisoners (FFOPS) and PACT offer practical, emotional and signposting support before, during and after visits.
Family engagement casework
Caseworkers support families around child protection, welfare issues, rebuilding relationships, and maintaining communication when regular visits are not possible.
Family days
We offer a minimum of 12 themed family days per year, including additional learning needs friendly sessions, adult only days, and special events such as Eid, Christmas and seasonal activities.
Care leavers
We follow the HMPPS Strategy for Care Experienced People. Support includes dedicated champions, access to specialist resources, peer forums, wellbeing sessions, and targeted casework.
Safeguarding measures
We have a safeguarding policy to ensure the protection of adults, children and vulnerable individuals. All concerns are responded to promptly and in line with prison service policy.
For further reference to safeguarding measures, please see the HMPPS Child Safeguarding Policy Framework
What have we achieved?
- Introduced inclusive, themed family days and increased the offer to 12 per year.
- Improved the comfort and accessibility of the visit hall with new furniture.
- Expanded play resources to meet the needs of all ages and neurodiverse children.
- Strengthened partnership working with external agencies including PACT, FFOPS and neurodiversity services.
- Delivered a prison wide family needs survey which guides current improvements.
- Enhanced communication opportunities through video calling and flexible telephone access.
- Increased visibility of family support opportunities throughout the establishment.
You said, we did
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You said: More family days. We did: Increased the offer from 9 to 12 per year.
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You said: More refreshments during visits. We did: Expanded the range of snacks and drinks available.
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You said: More toys for older children. We did: Introduced a wider range of games and activities for all ages.
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You said: Hot food options. We did: Introduced bacon rolls during morning visits, with more new options planned.
How will we measure our success?
We regularly review progress and quality through:
- prisoner family needs questionnaires
- prisoner consultative committee
- reducing reoffending meetings
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons feedback
- Measuring the Quality of Prison Life and rehabilitative culture measures
- visitors advisory board
- engagement with safer prisons teams
- performance measures linked to family contact
Staffing structure
- Governing Governor
- Head of Reducing Reoffending
- Head of Chaplaincy
- Family & Significant Others Lead
- Family & Significant Others Champion
- PACT Family Engagement Manager
- Family Support Workers
- Volunteers