Step-by-step: Before, during and after a visit
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This step-by-step guide draws on advice and good practice from different visitor groups. Read this guide alongside specific guidance from your visitor group, so that you can be confident of the specific policies and processes you need to follow.
Call or message the person you are visiting the day before your arranged visit to check they would still like you to come and that the time suits them.
Find out about the regime and facilities of the detention centre you are visiting from your group, and familiarise yourself with key organisations providing specialist support in the case you need to refer someone. Your visitor group will have a list of centre or prison-specific organisations.
Think carefully about what you can commit to in terms of frequency of visits and communication in between visits.
Make sure you are familiar with your groups’ guidelines and codes of conduct. In particular, make sure you are aware of your group's escalation processes if you are concerned about someone’s safety.
Your coordinator will advise you on what security screening is required, for example DBS and CRB checks. Visitors who visit beyond the visiting hall are required by the Home Office to have an enhanced DBS check.
Explain what your role is a volunteer visitor and as part of a particular visitor group. Explain what the visitors group does, how it can help, and what it can and cannot do. Be clear that you cannot offer legal advice.
Explain that you and your group are independent of the Home Office and centre or prison management, that you are there for them alone, and won’t share what they tell you with anyone outside your group unless they give you permission.
Explain that if you are concerned that they might harm themselves or someone else, you will need to tell someone else. If that happens, you must follow your group's escalation procedure. It is vital they know this from the outset.
Your group may have a permission form for the person you are visiting to sign, and written information about what their group can offer
Focus on being present and listening with empathy. .
If they raise an issue or a concern, you may need to ask them for more information to be able to understand their situation and what options for action are open to them. Understanding the facts of someone’s situation is important for providing the correct information. However, this should be done with sensitivity and without prying for unnecessary details. It may be helpful to ask:
What action have they already taken?
Do they have a lawyer? What action is the lawyer taking?
Have they spoken to anyone else about the concern?
Do they have any paperwork they would be happy to show you to help you understand the situation?
Go through any actions that you are each going to take as a result of your conversation. Get clear permission for any actions that you have offered to do that involve sharing information with someone else.
Ask the person you are visiting whether they would like to meet again. If they would like another meeting, decide together when is a good time and day to meet. You might also discuss options for checking in over the phone between visits depending on their needs, your capacity, and your groups processes.
Share any information about relevant groups or organisations that can provide additional support based on your conversation. Your group may provide a leaflet with these organisations.
Share a report or feedback on your visit, following your group processes. It is important to note down actions you agreed to take on their behalf, any particular concerns you have about the well-being of the person you met, and any wider issues raised about the centre.
Do the actions you agreed to do, or hand them over to the relevant person in your group. Keep a record of any actions taken.
Take some time to process your feelings about the visit in a way that works for you. This could involve speaking with another volunteer, a group coordinator or a friend, taking time out to recover, and/or writing things down.
