Volunteer visitors meet with detainees in Immigration Removal Centres, prisons and short-term holding facilities to listen, converse and offer their humanitarian support in a non-judgemental way. People detained may be asylum seekers, fleeing persecution or conflict in their home countries, victims of torture, abuse or human trafficking, stateless individuals, visa ‘overstayers’ or foreign national offenders. They often feel hopeless, stressed, lonely, depressed, scared, anxious and/or angry.
Volunteer visitors are part of a charitable, community-based group located near a detention facility who offer practical, emotional and social support, but do not provide legal, financial or medical advice. They may refer detainees to other relevant organisations or signpost them to additional resources. Volunteer visitors commit to visiting their allocated detainees on a regular basis for continuity and building relationships.
The UK is unique to the rest of the EU in which detainees may be held for an indefinite amount of time, causing distress, anxiety and depression. A volunteer visitor may be their only visitor from outside of the detention centre.
This short video published by The Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID) in the UK provides an overview of volunteer visitors’ work and their impact on detainees’ lives. Interviews were conducted with volunteer visitors, former visitors and former detainees.
Hidden Social Space 