HMP Featherstone

Thank you to Period Power who have donated a supply of sanitary products which will be available free of charge to visitors in our Visits Centre.

HMP Featherstone celebrated #WorldBookDay by donating books to children at our Visits Centre, helping families to enjoy reading together at home @Prisonadvice. 📖 Thank you to our Library team for the wonderful book donation @StaffsPLS.

Thank you to all of our staff and partners who donated toys and gifts for a local charity to provide to families in need over the festive period. Over 200 gifts were collected, helping to give back to the local community and build strong partnerships. 👏 @prisonadvice

We're introducing Play2Connect in visits, alongside @prisonadvice, to help improve communication & build positive relationships between dads and their children - vital to aid rehabilitation. This activity can be particularly useful for children with neurodiverse needs.

This week was International Literacy Day - The Shannon Trust & @Novuschange joined forces to celebrate the power of reading & writing. They worked with prisoners on a range of activities to help them gain these vital skills which will play a crucial role in rehabilitation.

Prison visits play a pivotal role in strengthening family ties, which helps to reduce reoffending. That's why we ensure visits provide activities that encourage bonding such as our recent themed teddy bears visit which allowed dads & their children to create crafts. @prisonadvice

Due to an ongoing hardware shortage there will be limited access to Secure Video Calling. The following temporary changes are now in place with immediate effect: 1) Only 2 slots will be available per session and 2) These will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Please note the cut off time for our afternoon visits on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday is now 1:30 pm. Our Saturday morning session is 9:00 am. Any visitors arriving after these times will not be admitted. @prisonadvice

📚From university degrees to distance learning courses, at HMP Featherstone, we’re proud to partner with @OpenUniversity and @PrisonersEd to support prisoner education. Education empowers prisoners with the skills they need to gain employment upon release.

🌸Our horticulture department has been busy making hanging baskets to gain hands-on skills in gardening & teamwork. These are available to buy from 12pm-1pm until Thursday 5 June at the front of the prison. Small baskets are £20 & large are £25, cash only.

Family Services Management who operate our booking line have advised that on May 26th their telephone line will be closed for phone bookings on that day to allow them to catch up on digital bookings. Digital and email bookings will still operate as normal. @prisonadvice

.@cwhillauthor recently hosted a writing workshop for prisoners. These writing skills can help reduce reoffending by building self-awareness, improving communication & boosting confidence - key to successful rehabilitation. Thank you to @StaffsPLS for organising this.

Thank you to our Library Team @StaffsPLS for their donation of children's books for our Prison Visits Room, to celebrate #WorldBookDay. We encourage prisoners reading with their children during visits to help build relationships which is crucial for rehabilitation. @prisonadvice

Information for visitors to HMP Featherstone: On 17th and 18th March, visitors are advised to use the New Road entrance due to ongoing work to resurface the road outside the prison. There will be temporary traffic lights during this period. Thank you.

For #WorldBookDay we're using cartoon William The Bear @prisonadvice and our library to encourage prisoners & visitors to pick up a book. Reading in families helps support family ties and helps reduce re-offending. We're proud to work together today and everyday. @StaffsPLS

❗From Monday 3rd February our partners who operate the telephone booking line for visits will be making a permanent change to telephone booking times and they will move to opening times of 10am to 3pm to reduce waiting times. @prisonadvice

@Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrell_b brought the joy of reading to children visiting their dads at @HMPFeatherstone. The event formed part of Pact’s Family Literacy in Prisons course, which helps parents in prison support their children’s literacy development and build strong family bonds. Huge thanks to @Booktrust @PrisonersEd @CathyNutbrown & @hmpps for making the day happen!

Due to technical issues, our secure video calling is currently not working at HMP Featherstone. We are working with technicians for an urgent repair and will update you once sessions can take place again. @prisonadvice

🧸 William the Bear is ready to welcome children & visitors across our next 2 family visit sessions. Family visits helps to support & strengthen the bonds between parents and children by engaging together in crafts and reading which in turn helps reduce reoffending. @prisonadvice

Please note that from 3 December all afternoon visits sessions (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) will have a cut-off time for visitors of 2:30 pm. Our Saturday morning visits session cut off time will be 10am. @Prisonadvice