Family and Friends Forum

Sources of support, guidance, advice and learning

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InTatters

Member since
June 2022

175 posts

Posted Mon March 11, 2024 9:54amReport post

Acts Fast: support for families of children who have experienced or been impacted by child sexual abuse or assault. Advice, support and trauma counselling for adults who have accessed IIOC and their families.

Barnado’s: helping children and families feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful. Specific support for children with a parent in prison.

Children Heard and Seen: support for children with a parent in prison and their families.

Circles UK: focussed on reducing sex offending in partnership with criminal justice agencies. Customised restorative work to address harmful sexual behaviour. Specialist support for those with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum conditions. Risk and safeguarding courses for families, and specialist therapy and counselling.

PACT: The Prison Advice & Care Trust (Pact) is a charity which supports people affected by imprisonment, providing practical and emotional support to prisoners’ children and families, and to prisoners themselves. Free confidential helpline for prisoners’ families and friends (0808 808 2003).

Prisoners families helpline: free, confidential support and advice for families in England and Wales who have a loved one in contact with the criminal justice system.

SAA: a programme and safe place to address and heal from sex addiction and harmful sexual behaviours.

Safer Lives: specialist and individual support, advice and guidance, focussed on welfare and mental strength and wellbeing for offenders and their families. Therapeutic, practical and educational expertise.

StopSO: specialist support and therapy for those concerned about their thoughts or behaviour, and for those impacted by the behaviour of others.

Talking Forward: facilitated peer support for people impacted by a family member or friend who has engaged with online CSA. Part of a group committed to research into and understanding of online offending.

In the event of a custodial sentence, 'www.emailaprisoner' and 'prisonvoicemail.com' are really easy-to-use and valuable ways to keep in touch.

Edited Sun October 13, 2024 9:43am

InTatters

Member since
June 2022

175 posts

Posted Fri April 5, 2024 11:14amReport post

Bumping in case useful....

Katie28

Member since
December 2021

183 posts

Posted Fri April 5, 2024 5:25pmReport post

Hi Intatters,

I am sure everyone is so appreciative of the information you have provided but can I ask you to remove or at least approach one of these organisations with caution. My husband attended Andy's Mans Club in our local town, he was really enjoying mixing with male company again after losing all of his friends. After about 4 weeks of attendance he was met at the entrance at one of the meetings by the organisers and advised it be best if he didn't attend as someone in the group had recognised him following press coverage and there was a possibility of reprisals. My husband was devastated on the night and even considered taking his own life. When he eventually came home hours later and I head what had happened I immediately contacted the senior management and asked them to investigate why someone in the group had breached the code of confidentiality by searching for another member and informing other members of my husbands offence. The managers were extremely apologetic and suggested he should join another group. I would have preferred them to have excluded the person who breached the rules instead however my husband said he would never go back. It was a bad experience and totally conflicted with the ethos of helping men with loneliness and mental health issues, I told them rather than help my husband this situation Meah have actually contributed to him losing his life. As I said earlier to everyone there is a lot of help and support out there but please approach with caution especially if there has been media exposure.

Katie xxx

Ocean

Member since
September 2023

784 posts

Posted Fri April 5, 2024 8:21pmReport post

Hi Katie, I'm so sorry to read this, what a horrible thing to have happened to your husband. Stories like this fill me with sadness as I know how hard it is for our people to step out and try and mix with others again. Your husband did so well in joining the group in the first place and I really hope he finds the strength to put this latest set back behind him. Sending you both lots of love and good wishes.

Katie28

Member since
December 2021

183 posts

Posted Sat April 6, 2024 12:35amReport post

Ocean thank you so much for your lovely kind words. It was a dreadful night when it happened, I worried when he didn't arrive home after 3 hrs waiting, he did eventually answer my calls and told me he was on the waterfront contemplating everything that had happened. I persuaded him to come home otherwise the alternative was I would ring the police. It took him 45 mins to drive home and I stayed on the line to make sure he got home safely. He was desperately low when he arrived home and he told me he had had enough. He is not someone who revels or indulges in self pity so I quickly realised how serious the situation was. The problem was we had never heard of Andysmansclub until the probation service recommended it, following this incident the probation service who my husband was attached to no longer recommend it to anyone convicted of these sort of offences. They also made an official complaint on his behalf.
Katie xxx

Lucy from Stop it Now!

Member since
September 2018

504 posts

Posted Fri June 14, 2024 3:10pmReport post

In 2021, there were over 850 arrests across the UK for viewing sexual images of

under-18s every single month.

Many of the people arrested have children of their own or contact with children

in their wider family. Compared to people convicted of other forms of sexual

offending, research suggests that people who view sexual images of under-18s

are more likely to be married and have children.

“It is very rare that anyone is aware of a person’s offending before it comes to

the attention of the police and the first these partners and children know of the

offending usually comes after a knock at the door,” says Deborah Denis, CEO of

the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

“They are secondary victims of this offending and often left traumatised by the

shock what a loved one has done,” added Sheila Taylor, CEO of the NWG

Network. “They don’t know what to do next and how to find support.”

Support to build a future

To help these families, we’ve teamed up with other child protection

organisations and law enforcement agencies, including the NWG Network,

Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, Marie Collins Foundation and the

National Police Chiefs’ Council.

We’ve produced an easy access service directory to guide partners or family

members of people who have been arrested for viewing sexual images of

under-18s to find support and information.

To view this directory, please see this link:

Marie Colins Services Supporting Families

Please let us know what you think.


Take Care

The Forum Team

Edited Fri June 14, 2024 3:11pm

InTatters

Member since
June 2022

175 posts

Posted Sun October 13, 2024 9:51amReport post

Thanks for the link, LFF. Are you able to provide any info on how, when and by who this document is circulated. My experience was that no schools, GP, police, Children's services, police or solicitors were aware of or able to offer any guidance at all on sources of guidance, support, education, learning or therapy in this area. The list I put together in my original post was derived entirely from my own research. Is the document you link to being used to raise awareness and shared as a matter of course with all these professions. Is this proving successful and yielding positive results?

StartingOver

Member since
November 2024

1 post

Posted Sat November 9, 2024 1:01pmReport post

Thank you all of you for the signposting. InTatters, this is also my experience largely - only one GP signposted me to LFF.