Family Support Workers

The family support staff who work on the ground floor of the Jigsaw Visitors Centre give free and impartial advice to families and friends of prisoners, either in person or by phone. We can provide information on various topics such as ID requirements when visiting the prison, ways to keep in touch with a prisoner, sending money and more.

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We are here to support you on the day of your visit, you are welcome to chat to us about any questions or concerns that you have.

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Family Visits

Family Visits are two hour visits which take place on Friday mornings throughout the year. On visit days Jigsaw organise a craft activity or quiz and some snacks. The prisoner must fill in an application form on the Prisoner Information Desk if he would like you to attend one of these visits.

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Some of these visits are for Parents and Tots and are for prisoners with children aged 0-4. During school holidays we organise family visits for those with school age children. We also organise adult only family visits to give prisoners without children the opportunity to have a two hour visit.

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Storybook Dads

This project allows fathers to record a story on a DVD which will be posted to their child. The recording is edited to add music and sound effects to bring the story to life. This gives them something to remember their parent by during the period of separation. Further information on this project is available at https://www.storybookdads.org.uk/. 

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If a prisoner would like to take part, they should fill in a Storybook Dads application on the prisoner information desk on their wing. Recording sessions are organised by Jigsaw regularly throughout the year.

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Schools project

Every year in our region, hundreds of children are impacted by the imprisonment of a parent or sibling. Our schools project provides an opportunity for teachers in our region to visit HMP Leeds, enter the prison visit hall and have a question and answer session with prisoners and prison officers. This half day walkthrough gives staff an awareness of what children experience when they visit a loved one in prison. These half day workshops are run regularly throughout the year. If you support children or young people and would like to know when the next one will take place, please send an email to info@jigsawcharity.org.

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Virtual Parents Evening

HMP Leeds are offering the opportunity for dads in prison to attend an online parents evening with their child's school teacher or to have a school report sent to them. This will only be done with the consent of the child's mother or legal guardian, and is subject to the availability of the school. If the person you are visiting would be interested in this, please speak to a member of the Jigsaw Leeds team or email info@jigsawcharity.org. 

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Family Forum

Online family forums take place to allow families to speak with one of the Governors of HMP Leeds. Holding these forums online means that families don't need to travel to the prison but can join by downloading the Microsoft Teams app. Speak to a member of Jigsaw staff to find out more about how to attend.

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