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There were some good moments yesterday. I got sight of the report commissioned into the work of the helpline that I currently volunteer for. This was actioned by our umbrella parent body Action for Prisoners Families, because the funding we have is requiring replenishment, this was done to ensure that we were can justify bidding for monies etc. Earlier this year, a couple of hundred callers were asked if they would allow us to do a phone back interview, and these were done externally. It's a very positive indication that we are doing the right thing! The key highlights are...

Is the service needed?
It is clear from this evaluation that the Prisoners’ Families Helpline is providing
a much-needed service for the families and friends of prisoners. The statistics
show that there is an ever-increasing demand for the service and most of the
callers we interviewed during this evaluation said they could not imagine how
they would have coped without the Helpline.

Who uses it?
Over three-quarters of callers said they had called the Helpline for the first
time. Not surprisingly, parents and partners of those in prison constituted the
largest proportion of callers to the Helpline.

Can callers access it easily?
The service is easily accessible. The fact that it is a free Helpline was
extremely important to the majority of callers as many are coping with difficult
financial situations. Almost all callers reported that they got through to the
Helpline straightaway. The Helpline also provides a service to an ethnically
representative group of people.

What help do callers want from the Helpline?
Callers appear to view the Helpline primarily as a source of information
however almost half had also sought support from the Helpline. The vast
majority of callers had rung the Helpline in a state of distress, confusion or
frustration. Almost half of the calls taken by the Helpline were complex in
nature, requiring a high level of involvement and skill from the call-takers.

Is the Helpline providing a high-quality service?
All callers felt that the call-takers had dealt with them in a polite, sensitive and
supportive manner and over 90% of callers said they had received the
information and support they wanted from the Helpline. As a result, levels of
satisfaction with the level of service were extremely high. This was clearly
reinforced by the fact that there were no significant suggestions made for
improving the service.

What difference does the Helpline make to callers?
Calling the Helpline appears to make a considerable difference to callers in a
range of ways. For many people, calling the Helpline had made an immediate
and positive difference to how they were feeling and over two-thirds of callers
described feeling better in the longer-term as a result of speaking to the
Helpline. The fact that someone had listened to them and understood what
they were going through had been enormously helpful and had relieved a lot
of stress and frustration.

Almost two-thirds of callers felt better supported having contacted the Helpline
and over half of this group told us that knowing they could go back to the
Helpline when they needed to made a real difference to them. As a result,
some callers felt that they could cope better with their situation and were more
in control.

For a smaller number of people, calling the Helpline had not only resolved
some issues for them but also for their relative in prison. In addition, a small
number of callers said that contact with the Helpline had led to a positive
effect on children in the family.

Recommendations
This external evaluation has confirmed and reinforced the value of the service
provided by the Prisoners Families Helpline and no significant
recommendations for improving the service emerged from the interviews with
callers.

Some comments made by callers to the Prisoners’ Families Helpline

They were wonderful.

They were very understanding and kind and made me feel better.

A brilliant service. I wish I'd have known about it earlier.

They were very understanding and offered lots of information which arrived
the next morning. I was astounded.

They do a marvellous job. I couldn’t fault it at all. Thank God they were there.

Make sure it doesn’t disappear!

Now that I know I can speak to them, I will call them again to talk about how to
deal with my children.

They were efficient, quick and helpful. A useful link in terms of dealing with the
prisons.

I think they are absolutely wonderful and wouldn’t be able to cope without
them.

Everything I wanted and asked for, I got from them.

They delivered 100%. An absolutely fantastic service. Lots of people like
myself wouldn't know what to do if it wasn't there.