wellingborough prison visits

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• Crime, justice and the law
• Prisons and probation

Visit someone in prison

Use this service to request a social visit to a prisoner in England or Wales. There’s a different way to book a prison visit in Northern Ireland or a prison visit in Scotland .

To use this service you need the:

• prisoner number
• prisoner’s date of birth
• dates of birth for all visitors coming with you

If you do not have the prisoner’s location or prisoner number, use the ‘Find a prisoner’ service .

You can choose up to 3 dates and times you prefer. The prison will email you to confirm when you can visit.

The prisoner must add you to their visitor list before you can request a visit. This can take up to 2 weeks.

Request a prison visit

Visits you cannot book through this service.

Contact the prison directly if you need to arrange any of the following:

• legal visits, for example legal professionals discussing the prisoner’s case
• reception visits, for example the first visit to the prisoner within 72 hours of being admitted
• double visits, for example visiting for 2 hours instead of 1
• family day visits - special family events that the prison organises

Help with the costs of prison visits

You may be able to get help with the cost of prison visits if you’re getting certain benefits or have a health certificate.

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HMP Five Wells opens to inmates

Feb 22, 2022

Wellingborough prison, HMP Five Wells, has finally opened its doors to inmates.

The first of 1,680 prisoners have moved into the G4S-run prison with ‘airport style security’ .

The move was confirmed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). A spokesperson said: “It has opened. I can confirm that verbally.”

The £253 million prison is one of Northamptonshire’s largest ever public spend building projects and stands on the site of the demolished HM Prison Wellingborough.

The MoJ contracted construction company Kier to execute the build under the Prison Estate Transformation Programme.

G4S have been requested by the MoJ to refrain from providing details about the prison until after a ‘completion event’ which they are hoping will take place soon.

The prison, which features seven houseblocks and over 60,000 square metres of accommodation areas and ancillary buildings, will aim to rehabilitate its inmates.

The building has been designed in keeping with the MoJ’s commitment for an ‘environment conducive to rehabilitation’ including no bars on its windows and X-shaped wings.

A spokesman from G4S said: “The new-generation category C facility will be run with a strong focus on rehabilitation in order to break the cycle of reoffending.

“Total revenues over the life of the contract are expected to be around £300m and G4S will create around 700 new jobs to manage and operate the contract.”

The prison, one of the largest in the UK, which began hiring in January, has faced its fair share of controversy.

In April, 2021, the build attracted a two-day lock-on protest and, in December, an anti-Covid protest by people who were convinced that the site was going to become a quarantine camp for people who were unvaccinated.

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Wellingborough Prison Information

• Accommodation: The prison provides multiple residential units with individual cells or shared accommodation for inmates. The cells are equipped with basic amenities, including beds, personal storage, and sanitation facilities.
• Education and Vocational Training: Wellingborough Prison places a strong emphasis on education and vocational training. Inmates have access to a range of educational programs, including basic education, literacy, numeracy, and accredited courses. Vocational training opportunities are also available to develop employable skills and enhance prospects for successful reintegration into society.
• Work Opportunities: Inmates at Wellingborough Prison have access to various work activities within the prison, such as maintenance, cleaning, kitchen, and other designated roles. These work activities aim to develop skills, instill discipline, and promote a sense of responsibility.
• Healthcare: Wellingborough Prison has an on-site healthcare unit staffed with medical professionals who provide primary healthcare services to prisoners. Mental health support, substance abuse programs, and specialized medical care are also available.
• Family Contact: The prison recognizes the importance of maintaining family relationships and facilitates visits and contact with family members, subject to specific guidelines and regulations.
• Resettlement Support: Wellingborough Prison offers pre-release planning and support to help inmates prepare for their eventual release. This may include assistance with accommodation, employment, and access to community-based support services.

Contact Information

Booking a visit to wellingborough prison.

• 09:15 – 11:15
• 14:15 – 16:15
• 17:45 – 18:45

Unlimited Prison Phone Calls Package

• Valid Passport
• Valid Photographic
• Driving Licence (full or provisional)
• Citizen Card
• Senior Citizens Bus Pass Travel Card (issued by Scottish Government)
• Utility bill
• Council tax bill
• Benefit book
• Bank statement
• other letter from official source

Advertisement

Inside the ancient walls of the state's women's prison, a program for young inmates launches

Copy the code below to embed the wbur audio player on your site.

<iframe width="100%" height="124" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://player.wbur.org/news/2024/06/21/peace-massachusetts-women-prison-framingham"></iframe>

• Deborah Becker

The oldest prison for women in the nation is here in Massachusetts. MCI-Framingham, built in 1877, houses about 200 women. More than half of those in custody are serving sentences longer than six years.

Inside the aging facility is something new: a renovated space with a gleaming kitchen, gym, library and game room. The state Department of Correction's interim commissioner, Shawn Jenkins, said the upgrades are part of the prison's new so-called "PEACE program," which aims to help incarcerated women under 30.

"As we work with these young individuals, our hope is to forge bonds with family and have experiences in the unit to set them up for successful reentry back into their communities," Jenkins said at a recent event to celebrate its opening.

PEACE (an acronym for Progressing Every Day and Changing in Every Way) offers 3,000 square feet of renovated space for women to visit their families, study and prepare for release. Its seven current participants helped design the layout of the rooms, choosing books for the library, paint colors for the walls and fish for two fish tanks.

"This could shape us into somebody better," said Makayla Lowe, one of the participants. "Because not only is it just a program in prison, but it's built like we should want to live in a loft that looks like this. We should want a kitchen, a laundry room. You know, these are things that we should strive for when we get out."

Lowe, 27, has been incarcerated at Framingham for two years and will be eligible for parole next year. She has a job teaching computer skills at the prison and is involved in two higher education programs to get a degree. With the program now open from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day, she said she plans to spend as much time as possible there.

Lowe also said program participants helped draw up the criteria for who could join.

"We're not going to let people just come up here and lounge around," Lowe said. "You have to work for something like this, and you have to want to be part of a community. It takes a lot to have that mentality in a place like this."

Lowe said she has turned her life around and is eager to be on a better path and reuniting with her two children, ages six and nine, when she gets released.

"They're my main motivation," Lowe said. "That's why I'm trying so hard."

PEACE was funded with a $250,000 appropriation in the state budget for programming for young women in prison. Participants do not receive time off their sentences or "good time" for joining. However, the Department of Correction said that's a future goal of the program. The effort was modeled after one for incarcerated men under age 25 who have children. The Department of Correction began that program, known as the BRAVE unit, in 2021.

“This new unit is designed to empower program participants with meaningful skill development, while strengthening essential family bonds and disrupting cycles of adversity that can lead to recidivism," Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement.

For years, people have debated how to deal with the aging Framingham prison. Healey, as part of her capital investment plan, set aside $1 million for design and planning at the facility, and up to $50 million over five years. But advocates say state dollars would be better spent on more programs and preventative efforts to keep women out of state custody.

They argue efforts to reduce incarceration, such as community supervision, wider use of medical parole for ill prisoners and more reentry support would help further reduce the state's incarceration rate. The Department of Correction's $840 million budget for fiscal year 2025 allocated less than 1% for reentry programming.

"It's always important to improve women's material conditions," said Mallory Hanora, with the group Families for Justice as Healing, which has fought plans for a new state women's prison.

"The incarcerated women that I've spoken with are really looking for more significant change, opportunities for release and to heal and advance their lives, which they don't feel they can do inside of a prison," Hanora added.

According to the Department of Correction, the Massachusetts prison population declined by more than 40% over the past decade. The state closed some men's prisons because of those low numbers.

"We need to be reinvesting this money in reentry for our people coming home and also shifting that investment into community solutions and community-led programming and services to interrupt the cycle that drives people back into incarceration," Hanora said.

Hanora and other advocates are pushing for a five-year moratorium on any new prison construction in the state, a measure former Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed in 2022. Lawmakers are now considering similar legislation. It does not preclude repairs, but it would block the state from studying, planning, designing, acquiring, leasing or searching for sites, or building new facilities.

This segment aired on June 21, 2024.

• Incarcerated women confront trauma through art on the Cape
• Inmates, advocates and lawmakers renew push for a prison moratorium

Deborah Becker Host/Reporter Deborah Becker is a senior correspondent and host at WBUR. Her reporting focuses on mental health, criminal justice and education.

More from WBUR

Wellingborough mega prison to have 'airport-style security' in drug clampdown

Equipment will be rolled out in all new prisons including HMP Five Wells

• 11:34, 8 DEC 2021

Britain's biggest ever prison, set to open soon in Northamptonshire, will be installed with "airport-style security" as part of drugs clampdown.

Every prisoner will also be assessed for addiction on arrival under plans to stamp out narcotics behind bars, reports the Daily Mirror.

Body scanners, biometric identification and narcotics sniffer dogs are among a series of measures proposed to stem the flow of substances that "scupper the work of frontline staff" in reforming offenders, the Ministry of Justice said.

READ MORE: For the latest Northants Live stories on Wellingborough, visit our dedicated local news channel

Ministers will also consider searching prison officers suspected of smuggling drugs into prisons, in a bid to uncover bent guards.

The privately-owned HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough has been built with revolutionary X-shaped wings , instead of the typical K shape, in a bid to shorten the length of walkways.

As for the rooms - the first pictures from inside show barless windows, spacious rooms and picturesque views of the River Nene.

Speaking before the Government unveils its Prisons Strategy White Paper in the Commons yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “This Government is delivering tougher sentences and 20,000 more prison places to keep the most dangerous criminals off our streets for longer.

"Prisons also need to play their part in cutting crime and preventing future victims.

“That is why with a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and more autonomy for governors to maintain good order, our reforms will clamp down on the causes of reoffending and make sure prison pays.”

The prison is set to hold 1,680 inmates and will be run by security firm G4S who won the contract back in October 2020.

It has cost around £253,000,000 to build. It was constructed on the site of the old HM Prison Wellingborough, which was demolished in 2019.

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Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said: “It’s no wonder that drug use among prisoners has soared in the last decade because the Conservatives have mismanaged our prisons, leading them to become awash with drugs, violence and disorder.

"Conservative incompetence cuts to the whole justice system and a lack of oversight of contracted companies has left prisons understaffed, dangerous and overcrowded universities of crime where drug addiction is rife and re-offending is commonplace."

HMP Five Wells teamed up with Jobcentre back in July to hire 300 staff for the prison.

While no concrete opening date has been given, it is expected to open in early in 2022.

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