Forgotten victims

Last week I hosted a Parliamentary drop-in session for fellow MPs to introduce them to an important family support and mentoring group — String of Pearls.

This Devon-based charity supports people who might be described as the forgotten victims of crime – those who live with a family member who is in prison. These include 160,000 children who are growing up with a parent in prison.

The effects on families may be profound. Prisoners' families often experience varying forms of social isolation meted out by neighbours and local communities. Children may suffer bullying.

It may be that there are large distances to travel between home and prison that make visits impossible. And where a breadwinner has been removed times may become financially challenging.

Helping families to cope in these situations is vital, not just on compassionate grounds but in improving the final outcomes for all of us. At £15-billion a year recorded crime costs our country a fortune and crime also, of course, brings much misery and fear.

The evidence shows that where prisoners are in contact with their families they are six times less likely to reoffend and yet 45% of prisoners lose touch with them. So helping hold families together and keeping them in contact with those inside makes sense all round.

I have been saddened by how generally patchy this kind of support is but heartened by the String of Pearls project. I first had contact with them through Mary Stephenson, one of my more inspired constituents who helped to develop and sustain it over several years. Many parliamentarians attended our event and I am grateful to all who came – I intend to press further on this issue in Parliament and I am grateful to Mary and her colleagues for joining me in Westminster.