BEST impact July 2021 – July 2022
“A local charity, BEST, stayed on site during the pandemic doing invaluable work in supporting foreign national prisoners …” HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on HMP Wandsworth published 6 January 2022.
Key stats at a glance:
Over 3,000 cases handled by BEST
Over 1,650 prisoners seen by BEST
Over 500 prison inductions conducted by BEST
Over 475 prisoners enabled by BEST to contact families, important others and lawyers
Over 150 Social Visits to prisoners conducted by BEST volunteers
£12,500 in emergency funds for prisoners provided by BEST
Casework usually involves multiple issues: the following table gives an approximate breakdown of our main areas of work:
BEST impact July 2021 – July 2022
| BEST: breakdown of time spent on casework | |
| Extradition, immigration issues, understanding and responding to official papers | 25% |
| Help accessing healthcare, education, library, chaplaincy, activities | 20% |
| Supporting SASH cases (Suicide and Self-Harm) | 15% |
| Liaising with lawyers, expediting and facilitating legal communications | 15% |
| Inductions | 10% |
| Help contacting families and loved ones, visits and emergency funding | 10% |
| Immigration Bail | 5% |
“Your service is invaluable to this vulnerable cohort of prisoners. I know that they appreciate your independence, your holistic approach to their wellbeing, and your extensive knowledge of both prison and Home Office processes. The presence of your service as an independent advocate is especially valuable, providing foreign national prisoners with a sense of hope and support, which is all too often in short supply.”
George Pugh, Residential Governor HMP Wandsworth
“I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. I spoke with P***** and to hear hope in his voice was so nice. To know he has help inside is such a relief for us all. Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Serena
BEST urgently needs your support to continue providing these services: to find out more about how you can support BEST, including by making a donation – click here.
Case studies
Ahmed
On suicide watch while awaiting extradition to the USA and swearing to kill himself if the extradition went ahead: BEST visited him regularly to discuss things: he was extremely anxious about the impoverishment and likely eviction of his wife and children in the North of England: BEST applied emergency funding to his family and connected them with a local charity who helped them to apply for benefits: he was eventually extradited and is facing a significantly shorter sentence than he anticipated: he remains in close touch his wife and two children who have managed to keep their home.
Mohamed
served with a Deportation Order without the prior Stage 1 papers notifying potential deportees and giving them a reasonable time in which to appeal if they so wish: the papers wrongly claimed he has “no family connections with the UK” whereas in fact he has a wife and children here: BEST helped him appeal the DO pointing out failure of due process and the factual error in the HO claim he had no family here: Deportation Order revoked and he remains in the UK.
Miroslav
Arrested for the first time in his life in transit at Heathrow airport and imprisoned aged 70: speaks no English: BEST helped him to connect with his family and arranged a visit for a family member to see him on a Social Visit: we saw him regularly and worked closely with Healthcare to ensure he remained well in custody and facilitated fluent communications with his lawyers: in June 2021 a Croatian court found him innocent of all war crime charges against him and he is now once again a free man.
Damian
Having applied for asylum Damian was told he would be tested for Covid and extradited the following day: when we learnt of this BEST immediately saw the Head of OMU and instructions were given to OMU, the NCA, and all involved in the extradition process halting the extradition pending due process on his asylum claim: he remains in HMPW.
Andrzej
Andrzej was referred to BEST by the Hospital Wing. Andrzej spoke no English. BEST visited him, helped him understand why he was in prison and started the process of recovering his ID papers (loss of which left him feeling, literally, a nobody). He became so ill he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital. Unable to get any information from Andrzej or anyone else about his background the hospital contacted BEST because all he could remember about prison was that an organisation called BEST tried to help him. After liaising with staff in the hospital and the Czech Consulate, he was…
Pawel
Pawel was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant in 2020 relating to offences in Poland from the 1990s: on suicide watch for several weeks when first came to HMPW: BEST regularly visited Pawel and [with the help of a Polish lawyer] we wrote to the Polish President appealing for a pardon. The appeal was rejected, but this support and our one-to-one talks with Pawel were vital in restoring his morale: he is no longer suicidal and, with the help of BEST, his wife and children have visited him in prison and he remains in regular contact with them.
Joseph
On the day of his release, Joseph was served papers saying the Home Office planned to deport him to a country where he does not speak the language, knows no one, and has never set foot: BEST applied for immigration bail and helped him prepare a Statement to the Home Office explaining his lifelong connections to the UK, that his family all have British citizenship, and fuller details of why he is appealing to the Home Office for leave to remain in the UK.
bestsupport.org.uk 