Reducing reoffending means addressing key, often interconnected areas of an individual’s life. Across our Sodexo prisons, we focus on seven key pathways to support rehabilitation and safe reintegration into the community:

1. Accommodation:
   Safe, secure, stable housing is essential for community reintegration and reducing and individuals’ likelihood of reoffending. We work with Probation and Local Authorities to support referrals into housing pathways.
2. Attitudes, Thinking & Behaviour:
   We promote pro-social behaviour through staff modelling and a range of accredited and non-accredited interventions.
3. Children & Family:
   Family and significant others are crucial. We embed family services and specialised family interventions through targeted interventions and activities.
4. Drugs & Alcohol:
   We work with healthcare partners to address substance misuse through specialist interventions.
5. Education, Training & Employment:
   We offer meaningful activity, education and training varied learning and work opportunities, plus initiatives like Starting Fresh to support employment after release.
6. Finance, Benefit & Debt:
   We provide financial guidance and support through dedicated advisors and Job Centre partnerships to reduce financial stress.
7. Health:
   We ensure prisoners can access vital healthcare through strong partnerships with local health providers.

Our dedicated Family Matters team visit every prisoner within the first few days following their arrival at the prison. Through this we are able to establish whether individuals have any family connections that can provide support, or if they need any assistance in trying to reconnect with family members, working with both internal and external agencies to facilitate this.

The Family Matters team offers 1-2-1 support for all prisoners, which individuals can request via the kiosk system. Alternatively, they can be referred by internal or external agencies who feel they would benefit from engaging with the team. The assistance available ranges from general support to liaising with social services, courts and adoption teams. The team are able to supervise contact with family members and also deliver a five-week parenting programme for residents.

For prisoners whose family relationships have become strained or damaged, the Family Matters team offer a Restorative Families service, bringing parties together to help resolve conflicts and issues.

To support family ties during a prisoner’s sentence the team organise five Family Days per year. This helps to bring family members and the prisoner together in a relaxed atmosphere, strengthening the ties and reducing the feelings of disconnection that can be experienced. At the earliest opportunity we identify whether a prisoner would be eligible for childcare ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence) - this may be considered if they have sole responsibility for a child or children under the age of 16. We also liaise with families of prisoners to assist them in attending sentence planning boards and internal reviews carried out regarding the behaviour and care of their family member.

Support is provided to Care Leavers who come into custody; the team establish contact with their personal advisor within the community to maintain interaction, liaising with the local authority regarding their entitlements if the individual doesn’t already have a personal advisor.

PBFamilyMatters@sodexogov.co.uk

Following release, Outside Links offers ‘beyond the gate’ support to former prisoners, helping them to access the services they need to successfully settle back into the community.

We work with a range of partners to provide support each weekday and at vulnerable times such as Christmas Day and bank holidays. Each week we offer a ‘Women only Wednesday’.

Outside Links service locations

We provide our Outside Links service in the following locations:

• Peterborough - HMP Peterborough Visits Centre
  (08:30 – 10:15 Monday to Friday)
• Peterborough - 1st floor Bradfield House, Westgate, Peterborough
  (10:30 – 17:00 Monday to Friday)

Funded by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, we also provide support to those on conditional caution in Cambridge, Huntingdon and Wisbech via telephone.

Freephone support line

We offer a Freephone support line that is available Monday to Friday from 10:30 to 17:00. For assistance call 0800 587 7745 or 07789 615048.

Just leave a message, including your contact details, and we will call you back.