Families Outside

Getting Involved

Find out how you can:

• use tools if you are a professional working with families affected by imprisonment;
• raise awareness of the needs of families affected by imprisonment;
• become a Friend of Families Outside;
• fund raise…with ease;
• arrange for us to be your sponsored charity in an event;
• volunteer to help us in our work.

To check for any current (or future) job vacancies with Families Outside, please refer to our What’s Happening page.  

a) Tools for Professionals

With kind permission of Family Justice and The Vera Institute (USA), Families Outside has adapted a number of tools which help develop more positive engagement between professionals and the families they work with.

1. Strength Based, Family-Focused Practice: Clinical Guide from Family Justice (pdf)

2. Ecomapping & Strength-based Genogram (Word.doc)
(training video – 105Mb – ecomapping)
(training video – 101Mb – genogram)

Please note that each training video should take about 30 minutes to download.

A video of the ‘La Bodega de la Familia’ project which was run by Family Justice (USA) is also available to download and offers useful background to support the tools we have provided.  Please click here (282Mb).

For more information about the Relational Inquiry Tool in the ‘La Bodega de la Familia’ video, please contact Families Outside (Scotland) or The Vera Institute of Justice (USA). 

The Vera Institute of Justice provides training and technical assistance on those tools and methods refined at ‘La Bodega de la Familia’ and Family Justice Inc.  For more information, click here.

The presentation that introduced these training tools at the Families Outside seminar on 21 May 2010 is also available to download for information.  Please click here.

You Tube - Carol Shapiro interview
At the Families Outside training seminar in May 2010, Carol spoke in an interview about the benefit of family involvement in the rehabilitation of offenders and the subsequent benefit to the criminal justice system.  This interview can be seen on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyFhiIJ0BJE 

b) Raising awareness

Families Outside receives regular requests from the media for families who are willing to talk about their experiences when a relative goes to prison. This is an extremely useful way of drawing public attention to the impact imprisonment has on people other than the offender.

If you are willing to speak with journalists or filmmakers, please enter your contact details below. We will then contact you when a media request is made. Contact with the media is at the family’s control. WE DO NOT PASS ON DETAILS OF FAMILY MEMBERS.

We insist that the media representative ensures anonymity and are happy to assist you with any media contact.

c) Friends of Families Outside

By becoming a Friend of Families Outside, you can:

• Show your support for families affected by imprisonment.
• Your voice can be heard at Families Outside events.
• You will receive our annual report and briefings on key issues.
• You will get discounts for Families Outside conferences, events and training.

The costs of becoming a Friend of Families Outside vary according to your ability to pay.

If you would like to become a Friend of Families Outside and help us continue our good work, please do so using one of the methods below. Thank you!

Applying to become a Friend of Families Outside by post

If you would like to apply to be a Friend of Families Outside by post, you can download an Application Form in PDF format, and send it to Families Outside at the following address:

Families Outside
Top Floor
13 Great King Street
Edinburgh
EH3 6QW

For some of our downloads, you will require a PDF reader to open the files. A free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found here Download Acrobat Reader

Applying to be a Friend of Families Outside online

If you would like to apply to be a Friend of Families Outside online, you can do so by clicking on the link below.

d) Easyfundraising.com

Support Families Outside for free when shopping online at over 2,000 retailers including Argos, Next, M&S, John Lewis, Debenhams, HMV, Vodaphone, DELL, Play.com, Comet, The Body Shop, Interflora and many more http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/fo

e) Sponsorship

Please think of us when you are looking for a charity to sponsor!

The next time you do a Fun Run, marathon or any other charity event, please designate Families Outside as your chosen charity. Please contact us if you need a sponsorship form for your event.

Sponsors who bring in over £100 will be given the choice between free ‘Friend of Families Outside’ status or a t-shirt with the Families Outside logo. This is a great way of supporting a good cause, keeping fit and having fun at the same time!

f) Volunteering

We are always looking for volunteers to assist us with our work. Opportunities are available for a number of types of work, depending on your location, skills, and experience. These include:

• Administrative support
• Local distribution of materials

We can also refer you to partner organisations in your area that work directly with families, such as for support in prison visitors’ centres, play provision for children, and assistance with travel and transport.

We’re sorry, but all volunteer posts with Families Outside are full at present. Please leave your name and details if you are happy for us to contact you once more opportunities are available or if you would like us to pass your contact information on to our partner organisations. Many thanks for your interest!

…and of course there is our mailing list

Should you have a general interest in the work of Families Outside and like to be added to our mailing list, please click here.  Among other things, you will receive our quarterly newsletter and invites to our conferences and events.