The Welcome Directory
Stepping beyond the gates is incredibly challenging. Only 1 in 5 prison leavers with faith or beliefs connect with a faith community on release, due to fear of rejection and judgement.
Our resources help churches to understand the challenges that prison leavers face upon release and how you can be part of the solution. Our national directory helps prison leavers to find and access welcoming faith communities, like yours.
We believe everybody deserves to belong. A kind and supportive welcome from a local church can make all the difference. The Welcome Directory helps make these connections happen.
Prisons Week
For fifty years Prisons Week has prepared prayer literature to enable the Christian community, through individuals and churches, to pray for the needs of all those affected by prisons: prisoners and their families, victims of crime and their communities, those working in the criminal justice system and the many people who are involved in caring for those affected by crime on the inside and outside of our prisons.
Prisons Week raises awareness and generates prayer. It motivates volunteers to step forward and give their time and gifts, in prisons and in their own communities. It provides an annual focus and reason for Christians to work together, building capacity and motivation to make a difference for people who are out of sight and often out of mind.
Prisons Sunday – the second Sunday in October – marks the beginning of the week of prayer each year, running through until the following Saturday. Prisons Week 2025 will run from 12th to 18th October
Community Chaplaincy Association
The Community Chaplaincy Association (CCA) is the umbrella organisation supporting a nationwide network of community chaplaincy projects that help reduce crime and build better futures. We envision communities where everyone seeking to move away from crime has the support they need to reach their full potential.
We unite our members and other organisations to strengthen and expand desistance support across the country, helping individuals move away from crime. This makes our communities safer places to live in.
Community Chaplaincies seek to build an embracing community in which prison leavers and those with non-custodial sentences can make a new start ... and contribute towards a healthier society for all
Prison Fellowship
Prison Fellowship supports people in prison through prayer and practical care. We work in small groups alongside local prisons and chaplains, but as a network of over 2,000 volunteers across England and Wales, we also provide training, resources, supervision and support. We are founded on prayer and believe no one is beyond hope.