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Email a prisoner

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Christmas Chaos

Member since
May 2022

131 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 2:47pmReport post

Hi everyone. I just wanted to put something in the tread for members who are dealing with a recent custodial sentence. Hubby was sent to prison in November and the prison told us about a website that is free to join. In case somebody doesn't know about it or isint sure how it works.

It's called emailaprisoner.com and its a very quick and cheaper way of staying in touch with a loved one compared to snail mail! Also prison phone calls can be quite expensive. This service is offered in most prisons. The inmate uses the prison kiosk to read and write emails back to you. To sign up you just set up an account for yourself with your email address and create a password. You will need your persons prison number and then you put money in your new account sort of like topping up a phone. This will be your credit balance to send emails. It's 40p to send an email and 25p to pay for the inmates reply which is optional.

We've found it to be a lifesaver so far, especially with the Royal Mail strikes. Its great if I've missed a call from hubby or just want to send him a quick message that he'll see when he checks the kiosk. You can see your email is queued for delivery and then you can see when it's delivered to the prison (unfortunately cannot see when it's been read by your person). You can also attach 4 photos to your emails for a small bit more money. The photos are then printed out by prison staff for your person to keep.

We just think its been a brilliant service for inmates and families and helps during this very difficult time. I log in to the website a few times a day and hubby checks the kiosk whenever he can so we are always staying in touch xx

emailaprisoner.com

Edited Sat January 28, 2023 2:53pm

Dragonmama

Member since
November 2022

251 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 3:42pmReport post

Hi are you aware that email a prisoner also has an app? You can get it at your App Store, saves logging into the website each time.


also most prisons don't deliver on the weekend so don't be confused why you haven't had a reply over the weekend. Most prisoners are kiosk based however if it's to do with children they print and deliver emails. So that they can make sure you don't include pictures / writing /drawing from children.

SAL

Member since
December 2021

895 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 4:05pmReport post

Just to add, it's worth keeping any eye out for promo codes in the app a nd if you can, stock up. They tend to have them around holidays and events like Easter and Mothers Day.

Some other things that might help people stay in contact and save either them or their person month are below

Call divert on your landline - Because I'm not often at home / want the freedom to be out and about I pay £2.50 a month for all my landline calls to be diverted to my mobile. I add an unlimited call package on too to cover the costs of calls - This is £12. It means he doesn't incur costs of calls to mobiles.

Prison Voicemail - We also use it so we can leave messages for one another. He has no way of being notified, so he calls it twice a day to check. We find it nice for when we can't talk or miss each other. I have an app I record the message on and I am notified when I've got a new one. The basic packages cost £6.50

The other thing we only found out about after 6 months are video calls, he can have one a month where he is - Noone told him.

Smile through tears

Member since
September 2021

2556 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 4:18pmReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Wed May 29, 2024 8:55pm

hpl111

Member since
November 2022

392 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 4:30pmReport post

Thanks for the information.

We will use it in case my husband has to go to prison.

So are you saying you can't email any pictures of your kids?

Are children allowed to visit their dads in prison with that kind of offence?

Christmas Chaos

Member since
May 2022

131 posts

Posted Sat January 28, 2023 6:10pmReport post

I've actually never sent a photo of people on it but one time hubby received a letter from the GP about his autism assessment so I took a photo of that and attached it to an email so he could have it printed off for the mental health team in the prison. I was worried the letter could get lost.

We've not tried the voicemail yet but I must set it up. Anything to help keep up contact.

And we also are still waiting to see if we can have the videocall once a month, nobody told us about that either and hubby is inside almost 3 months now.

Christmas Chaos

Member since
May 2022

131 posts

Posted Mon January 30, 2023 10:34amReport post

Wildflower hope this info helps a bit xx