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HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support Service

Empowering the Foreign National Population at HMP Wandsworth with the practical skills to engage with the regime, increase confidence, and access purposeful activity.

Offender management and rehabilitation

Our approach

Approximately 50% of HMP Wandsworth’s population are Foreign Nationals.

Catch22’s Foreign Nationals Support Service identifies all Foreign National men at the point of arrival at HMP Wandsworth and offers each of them a bespoke induction where they are offered support in the form of either one-to-one engagement or group workshops.

A priority of the service is to identify those who are particularly vulnerable, and to encourage them to access an enhanced level of support within the establishment. The service hopes to create an increased sense of community within HMP Wandsworth and to reduce isolation and segregation within the Foreign National population.

Portrait of a young man with a beard and moustache, in front of a white brick wall.

The Foreign National Support service is run by a small team of highly-driven individuals who possess a specialist skillset and a desire to provide an extremely high level of support to the increasing Foreign National population within London’s biggest prison. Their skills and passion make them highly effective in their roles, including language skills, backgrounds in Immigration and Extradition Law, and criminal justice experience.

Frequently asked questions

What types of support does the Foreign Nationals Support Service offer?

The Foreign Nationals Support Service at HMP Wandsworth offers support including:

Bespoke induction – each Foreign National Offender who arrives in HMP Wandsworth is offered a bespoke induction to the service. Those who choose not to attend the Induction Hub are visited by a Support Worker, where they are offered the service at the door and provided with service information.
One-to-one session with an allocated Support Worker – a specially-designed outcomes assessment is completed with each Foreign National who engages with the programme, to identify specific areas of needs and to measure distance travelled throughout the period of engagement.
Rolling workshops – run by Catch22 staff as well as external agencies, the workshops focus on a range of subjects which were identified by the Foreign National Population as being areas of need through the completion of a Needs Analysis survey. These include social identity, managing emotions, pro-social networks’ impact on decision making, communication in conflict, identifying positive relationships, motivation, and communication skills.
Project work – we aim to engage participants in working groups on a voluntary basis to engage and collaborate in project work, further building a sense of community. Participants work together, with the support of Catch22 staff, to create and propose initiatives for the establishment. For example, our first project centred around a ‘Culture Day’ focusing on increasing awareness of different cultures within the establishment.

What are Foreign National Representatives?

In the Foreign Nationals Support Service at HMP Wandsworth, we have a number of peer mentors (also known as Foreign National Representatives) who are all serving prisoners. They are spread out across the establishment, and the team does their best to ensure there is one representative on each wing, providing access to the service for everyone.

These representatives are appointed through an interview process and then receive specific training to support them in their role. They report to Catch22 on a weekly basis, and their key day-to-day tasks include:

keeping a written record which summarises the Foreign Nationals they’ve helped,
referring cases to other departments, such as Healthcare or Chaplaincy, where relevant,
reporting concerns and matters of security including reports of prisoners being bullied, areas of frequent complaint, lack of access to essential prison facilities etc., and
supporting Foreign Nationals with using the prison kiosk, canteen and other services, focusing on prisoners who speak little or no English.

While some of these representatives are Foreign Nationals themselves, others are simply eager to support the Foreign Nationals population within the prison.

Can I volunteer for, or get a placement with, HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support?

Yes. This service offers volunteering and student placements.

Yes, some of our services offer volunteering opportunities and/or student placements.

Catch22 offers student placements within its Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) contracts, as well as some of its wider justice services. This includes with the CRS Interventions Team, Personal Wellbeing, Finance Benefit and Debt, Dependency and Recovery, Foreign National Service and its Victim Services.

Depending on the team you work with, opportunities might include:

supporting members of the Interventions Team with their current projects, such as supporting the Interventions Lead to create new interventions, engaging with the Training Lead to learn about how our staff are being trained and helping to create their training packages, and spending time with the Inclusion Lead to learn about how protected characteristics are incorporated into Catch22’s interventions,
shadowing one-to-one interventions and group sessions with our service users to see what these sessions comprise of and how they are facilitated by our practitioners,
visiting other relevant professional areas of work, such as probation officers, prisons, or court rooms, to learn more about the relationship between Catch22 and the statutory and non-statutory services they interact with,
attending training relevant to the role (subject to what training is taking place during the placement period), and/or
supporting the Academic Partnerships Lead on current research projects, for example by collecting and collating evidence to further indicate “what works” and investigate different aspects of this approach to add to and improve the current evidence base for interventions in support of rehabilitation.

To register your interest, please contact us using the form at the bottom of the page.

I’d been in Wandsworth for a really long time before I got this job. Since being in this role, I’ve learned a lot of new skills and have taken on a lot of responsibility. My relationship with staff has improved as well, and I’m learning new things every day which I think will help me in the future

Mohan, Foreign National Representative

The service supports hundreds of prisoners each month. [Catch22] make every effort to provide key information to prisoners who are finding the environment difficult and have language barriers. They have a caring and responsible attitude and facilitate group sessions for prisoners who may feel isolated. It is a well needed resource.

Learning and Skills Manager, HMP Wandsworth

News and resources

Resources are listed chronologically.
Please use these arrows to see more.

24 Apr 2024

Ten years on: violence reduction in prisons

Blogs,

20 Feb 2024

Justice: Building resilience and aspiration in people and communities

Close-up of a Catch22 banner depicting the charity's vision. In the background, people gather for an event.

Publications,

13 Dec 2023

Supporting victims: what does a holistic approach look like?

Two men sit across a table from one another having a conversation.

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

22 Nov 2023

Prisons are at boiling point

A man and two women walk down the stairs at HMP Thameside wearing Catch22 uniform. At the bottom of the stairs, there are rows of tables and chairs.

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

16 Nov 2023

Short term prison sentences - why are they a disaster?

Header image for the Catch22 Minutes podcast which reads "Series 4: Policy"

Podcasts,

Offender management and rehabilitation

15 Sep 2023

Doing things differently: innovation in our justice services

Case studies,

Offender management and rehabilitation

26 Jul 2023

The unique needs of a rising remand population

Two stacks of Catch22-branded booklets sit upon a table.

Blogs,

7 Jul 2023

Catch22 submits written evidence on the Victims and Prisoners Bill

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, taken from across the River Thames. Overlaid is text that reads: "Consultation Response".

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

28 May 2023

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "Improving Resettlement Support"

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

18 Jan 2023

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on “Prison Operational Workforce”

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

27 Apr 2022

The impact of foreign national peer mentors in prisons

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

6 Apr 2022

The power of peer mentoring

Header image for the Catch22 Minutes podcast which reads "Season 2: Justice"

Podcasts,

Offender management and rehabilitation

25 Mar 2022

Foreign nationals in UK prisons

Podcasts,

Offender management and rehabilitation

22 Feb 2022

How can we improve outcomes for prison leavers?

Podcasts,

Offender management and rehabilitation

22 Feb 2022

Why successful re-integration reduces the chances of reoffending

A man walks through a city, with tall buildings around him. The sun shines through the buildings behind him.

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

12 Jan 2022

Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

2 Aug 2021

Catch22 to deliver pilot project to reduce prison recalls

A man receives a paper from a woman sat opposite him. He smiles at her with his hand outstretched to receive the paper.

Announcements,

Offender management and rehabilitation

16 Jun 2021

The challenges of being transgender in prison

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

3 Feb 2021

Education is the way out of reoffending

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

8 Jan 2021

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "Prison Education"

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

7 Sep 2020

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "The future of the Probation Service"

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

3 Aug 2020

Catch22 to deliver Resettlement service in London’s largest prison

Two prison workers in Catch22 uniforms sit next to each other watching a presentation. Only the bottom half of their faces is visible.

Announcements,

Offender management and rehabilitation

8 Aug 2019

Catch22 responds to report on youth resettlement

Close-up of the wheels of a bicycle and the feet of the cyclist as they cycle down the street in a city.

Responses,

Offender management and rehabilitation

28 Mar 2019

By measuring what matters, we’ll tackle the underlying causes of reoffending

Close-up of a number of measuring tapes, laid out together.

Responses,

Offender management and rehabilitation

3 Oct 2018

What should “good” look like in probation?

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

3 Oct 2018

Catch22 responds to the Transforming Rehabilitation Consultation

Consultations,

Offender management and rehabilitation

24 May 2018

Catch22 responds to the Ministry of Justice Education and Employment Strategy

Portrait of a man wearing an apron. In the background, a workshop set up can be seen.

Responses,

Offender management and rehabilitation

11 May 2018

Getting set up for a life after a sentence

Portrait of a young man wearing a hoodie, with his back to the camera.

Blogs,

Offender management and rehabilitation

24 Apr 2017

Fairness in the criminal justice system

Publications,

Offender management and rehabilitation

27 Mar 2017

Catch22 responds to the MOPAC Police and Crime Plan

Responses,

Offender management and rehabilitation

15 Feb 2017

The importance of effective mental health provision in prisons

A mature man looks thoughtfully on, with his head resting on one hand.

Responses,

Contact HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support Service

Naomi McGrath

Assistant Director, London

Referrals are accepted from within HMP Wandsworth: Foreign National prisoners can self-refer through the Kiosk system, and other agencies can refer into the service via the functional mailbox.

Please note that we are unable to accept referrals from friends or family at this time.

For further information, please reach out using our contact form, and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Address

HMP Wandsworth, Heathfield Road, London, SW18 3HU

Telephone Number

0208 588 4000

Email Address

C22.FNOSupport@catch-22.org.uk

Privacy notice

How we manage your data

Catch22 Charity Ltd. manages the data you provide in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The Data Controller (the organisation that determines how your data is managed) is Catch22. Contact us if you have a query about how your data is managed.
The Data Processor (the organisation that does data processing on behalf of Catch22) is Totally.Tech.
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We retain your data for as long as you allow us to do so. You can exercise your right to erasure at any time however, there may be some instances where we need to retain your information for a longer duration for legal reasons, such as when applying for a job with Catch22.

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Catch22 processes your job application data for the purpose of its legitimate interest to process your HR information.

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus six years following the end of your employment.
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You have the right to unsubscribe from any of our email mailing lists at any time. If you wish to unsubscribe from a Catch22 mailing list please click the unsubscribe link on the latest email or contact dpo@catch-22.org.uk to ensure that you do not continue to receive email newsletters from us. We will need to continue to hold your details after you have unsubscribed to ensure that we do not send you further communications.

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Feedback and enquiries

Catch22 processes the data submitted through any of our website contact forms for the purpose of receiving your message and responding to it under the lawful basis of consent, which you give when submitting the form.

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You have the right to withdraw consent for us to contact you at any time by contacting dpo@catch-22.org.uk. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, which in the United Kingdom is the Information Commissioner’s Office.

For more information, please see the Gravity Forms privacy notice.

Complaints

Complaints can be submitted using our online feedback form, by emailing feedback@catch-22.org.uk, or by post. Catch22 undertakes the processing of your complaints data as part of its legitimate interests.

When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.

We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide.

We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for six years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘data minimisation’ principle.

For more information, please see the Complaints, Compliments and Feedback policy.

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The Data Processor (the organisation that does data processing on behalf of Catch22) is Totally.Tech.

Catch22 also works with third-party data processors to provide our:

content management system (WordPress),
website analytics (Google Analytics),
marketing platform (Mailchimp),
client relationship management platform (Salesforce),
social media advertising campaigns (Meta Pixel, Twitter Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel), and
recruitment service (SmartRecruiters).

We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it and retain it for the period we instruct.

Individual Catch22 services may work with additional third-party data processors in line with their contractual requirements. For more information, please see the relevant Service Privacy Notice, which can be downloaded from their service page on this website, or found by searching for the service by name in our Policy Library.

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Catch22 may disclose information about you to any of our employees, officers, agents, suppliers or data processors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes as set out in this privacy notice.

In addition, we may disclose information about you:

to the extent that we are required to do so by law,
in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings, or
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).

Except as provided in this privacy notice, Catch22 will not provide your information to third parties without your consent.

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Catch22 will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.

We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure, encrypted password and firewall protected servers. As data transmission over the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

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Notice amendments

We may update this privacy notice from time-to-time. Check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes.

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Please contact the Data Protection Officer if you have any queries regarding this Privacy Notice or if you would like to exercise or query any of the following rights afforded to you under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

right to access

right to erasure

right to object

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rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) – via the Complaints page on the ICO website or by calling 0303 123 1113

For further information on your rights, please visit the Individual Rights page on the ICO website.

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or of our treatment of your personal data, please email dpo@catch-22.org.uk or write to:

Data Protection Officer

Catch22
27 Pear Tree Street
London
EC1V 3AG

Data controller

Catch22’s data protection registration number is Z1473239

Related services

Crime diversion

Our services aim to prevent first-time entrance into the criminal justice system, intervene when young people have committed an offence, and support young people subject to youth justice.

Gangs

Our services work in prisons and the community to reduce the risk posed by gang-involved individuals and, ultimately, reduce the number of violent incidents.

Offender management and rehabilitation

Our services provide long-term support from the point of entry into prison to an individual’s transition back into the community, with the aim of reducing re-offending.

Victim services

Our needs-focused services empower victims and witnesses to cope and recover from the impact of crime and anti-social behaviour, by providing a range of support including emotional and practical guidance, advocacy and advice.

HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support Service

Our approach

Frequently asked questions

What types of support does the Foreign Nationals Support Service offer?

What are Foreign National Representatives?

Can I volunteer for, or get a placement with, HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support?

News and resources

Ten years on: violence reduction in prisons

Justice: Building resilience and aspiration in people and communities

Supporting victims: what does a holistic approach look like?

Prisons are at boiling point

Short term prison sentences - why are they a disaster?

Doing things differently: innovation in our justice services

The unique needs of a rising remand population

Catch22 submits written evidence on the Victims and Prisoners Bill

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "Improving Resettlement Support"

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on “Prison Operational Workforce”

The impact of foreign national peer mentors in prisons

The power of peer mentoring

Foreign nationals in UK prisons

How can we improve outcomes for prison leavers?

Why successful re-integration reduces the chances of reoffending

Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system

Catch22 to deliver pilot project to reduce prison recalls

The challenges of being transgender in prison

Education is the way out of reoffending

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "Prison Education"

Catch22 responds to call for evidence on "The future of the Probation Service"

Catch22 to deliver Resettlement service in London’s largest prison

Catch22 responds to report on youth resettlement

By measuring what matters, we’ll tackle the underlying causes of reoffending

What should “good” look like in probation?

Catch22 responds to the Transforming Rehabilitation Consultation

Catch22 responds to the Ministry of Justice Education and Employment Strategy

Getting set up for a life after a sentence

Fairness in the criminal justice system

Catch22 responds to the MOPAC Police and Crime Plan

The importance of effective mental health provision in prisons

Contact HMP Wandsworth Foreign National Support Service

Privacy notice

How we manage your data

What information do we collect?

Cookies

Job applications

Job alerts

Email newsletter

Feedback and enquiries

Complaints

Use of data processors

Disclosures

Security of your personal data

Notice amendments

Your rights

Contact

Data controller