Prisoners Abroad

Prisoners Abroad is a UK-registered charity which supports British citizens who are imprisoned overseas. It also works with ex-prisoners returning to the UK and with families members and friends of those detained. The organisation aims to provide for the basic welfare needs of Britons who are held in developing countries by providing a grant for food and other essentials. The charity also provides English-language reading material and operate a pen-pal scheme.

Prisoners Abroad was formed by staff of another British charity, Release, in 1978, and initially worked with Britons held mainly in Turkey, central Asia and north Africa. It now works with over 1600 people a year [cite web | url=http://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk/prison_statistics.html | publisher=Prisoners Abroad | title=Prisoners Abroad statistics|accessdate=2007-02-22] , with prisoners in over 70 countries.

In 2007 Prisoners Abroad was awarded The Longford Prize [cite web | url=http://www.longfordtrust.org/11187/11063.html | publisher=Longford Trust | title=The Longford Trust | accessdate=2007-12-03] , awarded annually by the Longford Trust to "recognise the contribution of an individual, group or organisation working in the area of penal or social reform who/which has shown outstanding qualities of humanity, courage, persistence and originality" [cite web | url=http://www.longfordtrust.org/11187/index.html | publisher=Longford Trust | title=The Longford Prize | accessdate=2007-12-03] .

In UK terms, Prisoners Abroad is a small to medium sized charity, with an annual turnover of just less than £1 million.

External links

* [http://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk Prisoners Abroad official site]
* [http://www.release.org.uk Release official site]

References