What we do...

Release Mates provides two levels of support. We manage Departure Lounges outside prisons for people to visit after they've been discharged from custody. There is no need for a referral to our lounges; they are simply a safe, warm place for people to attend and get the help they need. In Release Mates Departure Lounges, we offer:

• Food 
• Toiletries
• Clothes
• Help opening Universal Credit claims
• Accommodation referrals
• Pre-loaded sim cards with 6 months' of calls, data, and texts
• Help getting to public transport links 
• A warm drink and a chat
• A place for families and services to wait for people being released
• Drug and alcohol support from people with positive experiences of life after prison
• Phone charging 
• Use of our phones 
• Referrals to other services

The Departure Lounge model is not new and is used by a number of prisons. Release Mates adopted the idea, believing that a lounge run by people who have left prison and gone on to achieve positive change is more effective than a lounge run by people who haven't. 

Release from custody is not a joyous, exciting occasion for a lot of people. Conflicting emotions of joy, fear, excitement, and anxiety combine to cause people to make irrational decisions in the immediate hours after release. Release Mates helps people to think consequentially, to think through their actions, plan for the day ahead, and successfully navigate through it. 

Release Mates Tier 2 Support

After running Departure Lounges for a period and learning from its beneficiaries' needs, Release Mates developed a more intense level of support for those leaving prison with multiple and/or complex needs. This level of support is reserved for people who: 

• Have historically not engaged with statutory services upon release
• Are seeking recovery from addiction
• Have a physical disability which prevents them using public transport easily
• Have mental health concerns which may impair thinking and decision making on the day of release 
• Are going into employment after finding a job through prison employment services 

Due to demand for Tier 2 Support, it is normally only available from prisons where Release Mates operates a Departure Lounge. We will consider requests from all North West prisons, however the decision whether to accept a referral is at our discretion.  To access Tier 2 Support, a person must be referred to Release Mates. Please contact us for more details. 

Tier 2 Support includes:

• Contact with the person by email-a-prisoner prior to release to form a plan for the day and beyond 
• Meeting the person at the prison gate
• All of the services available in the Departure Lounge (above)
• A free full English Breakfast
• Transport and accompaniment to the induction appointment with probation
• Help with all other day of release appointments (bank, GP, pharmacy, housing, job centre, employer, family, police station reporting)
• Ongoing support for up to 3 months post-release 
• An invitation to return to Release Mates as a volunteer 

For more information on the support offered by Release Mates, please use the contact us page