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The Howard League for Penal Reform is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison. The Howard League runs a legal service to help children and young people in prisons. Its campaigns aim to make prisons and community sentences safer and work better. The Howard League for Penal Reform is independent of government and is funded by voluntary donations and membership subscriptions.

The Howard League legal team provides a free helpline for children and young people who are locked up, providing immediate factual information and advice. The charity’s lawyers take action to help with safe release and complaints of mistreatment.

Photo: A Young Offenders Institution. (credit prisonimage.org)

Young people are the experts in their own experiences, but young people in the criminal justice system often get ignored, left out or silenced. The Howard League runs workshops with young people in custody, supports them to speak at political conferences and arranges meetings with policymakers to ensure their voices are heard.

Photo shows Danielle speaking at a party conference to policymakers about young people in the criminal justice system.

The Howard League campaigns and conducts research on a wide range of issues including improving prison conditions, making community sentences work safely and keeping young people out of crime and the justice system.  Recent successes include the award winning Books for Prisoners’ campaign, which helped to overturn the ban on sending books to prisoners.

Photo: Writers including; David Hare, Mark Haddon and A L Kennedy join the Books for Prisoners’ campaign at Downing Street. (credit prisonimage.org)