Last project meeting of the Volpris project took place on 14 and 15 June in Bremen, Germany under the coordination of Bremen Ministry of Justice and Constitution.

“Qualification of Volunteering in prison settings” was the theme of the Seminar that took place at the Training Division of the Portuguese Prison and Probation Directorate, in Caxias (Portugal).

The involvement of people from the community in prison life – through Volunteering Service Organisations (VSO) – can introduce opportunities for social participation, strengthen social ties, and can also reinforce rehabilitation efforts led by prison services to prepare for the return of the sentenced person to the society.

Research in the field of volunteering at SJC is scarce. Prisons and organizations that guide and support volunteers often lack the information, resources and tools necessary to support and value volunteers or to carry out a prison assessment to identify volunteer needs. The partners of the VOLPRIS initiative came together with the aim of contributing to a committed and active society, where volunteering is an expression of solidarity and European values. In the same way, we want to have safer communities, where offenders are fully supported in their integration into their communities, where they can address the factors and problems that led to the commission of crime, and consequently, live a normative life, without the presence of the crime. (https://www.aproximar.pt/.../gestao-dos-voluntarios-em...)

More than 30 representatives from different prisons in Portugal joined this Seminar and the VOLPRIS initiative.

Aproximar via Department for Criminal Justice System