Independent Monitoring Board Prisons

Sophie Anscombe from ‘The Independent Monitoring Board - Prisons’ was the speaker on 27th April. Sophie is a member of the small staff team supporting volunteers on the IMP Boards at each prison in the country. Like magistrates, IMB members are publicly appointed: historically they were known as Prison Visitors.

They are the point of contact for prisoners: lay people who give an oversight of conditions, challenges/issues and good practice in individual prisons. They act as an independent watch dog, asking themselves “How does xxxx make me feel?”. 

They do not manage, they monitor.

The role needs 2 to 5 hours per visit, with monthly monitoring meetings. Teams aim to carry out weekly visits so that through familiarity, trust is built. The IMB volunteers are friendly representatives not representative friends, but points and issues are escalated through them.

Anyone interested in volunteering with an IMB can contact them through

https://imb.org.uk/

Currently volunteers are locally needed at Haverigg.