The recent pandemic and cost of living rise has had a devastating impact on families affected by imprisonment. This specific community group have always felt isolated but never as much as they feel now. Covid has changed people's lives, the prison was on lockdown, families had no physical contact with their loved ones. Since reopening the number of prison visits has reduced significantly, resulting in families have less opportunities to visit. Families affected by imprisonment often feel stigmatised and misjudged by the larger community, which is why they are not the easiest community to engage with, unless the trust is built. They find it difficult to reach out for support within their local community, which exacerbates isolation. We would like more families to visit the Hub and spend time in a friendly, warm and non-judgemental environment, where they can access support and meet new people and build relationships. The grant would allow us to cover travel costs, improve the quality of our service by modernising current facilities in the Hub. Additionally, we would like to be able to offer them tickets to the cinema and lastly, we would like to organise an excursion day trip sometime in spring 2023.
