Keeping in touch with a family member or friend in prison is very important. Aside from visiting, there are a number of other ways of keeping in touch:
Letters
If a prisoner is unconvicted, they are allowed to send out two free letters every week. If a prisoner is convicted, they can send out one free letter every week, the stamps paid for by the prison. Prisoners can send out as many letters as they like at their own expense. Normally, there is no limit to how many letters someone in prison can receive.
Telephone calls
Pinphones are now used in all prisons instead of phonecards. This means each prisoner is given a PIN number which he or she must key in before making each call. Prisoners may be asked to complete a form to select telephone numbers for family, friends and legal contacts, and the list has to be agreed by the prison. Outside the high security prisons and depending upon the category of a prisoner, it may be possible to make telephone calls to family, friends and legal contacts without having the number agreed beforehand.
The system works on a credit basis. Prisoners can buy credit from the prison shop and the cost of phone calls made is deducted automatically from their PIN account.
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