The seeds of the POPS story were sown 25 years ago in June 1988 when a young mum stood queuing in the rain with her two children outside one of the North-West’s largest prisons. With little information or support available to assist her in negotiating the complex world of the criminal justice system the woman took the brave decision to place an advert in her local newspaper to invite other people in her situation to a peer support group. ‘Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group’ was born.

The woman whose experience and courage led to the establishment of POPS as a charity was Farida Anderson MBE. Recognised in 1999 Honours list for services to prisoners’ families Farida was the driving force behind the growth and development of a charity which now provides support services for families across England and Wales. POPS deliver visitor services at twelve prisons across the North-West and Yorkshire and Humberside and have a number of family support workers integrated  into partnerships with local Probation and Youth Offending Services. We also deliver information and advice to families and professionals nationally through the Offenders’ Families Helpline and the new i-HOP online information hub in partnership with Barnardos. Now led by Diane Curry OBE, POPS development has been guided throughout by the very families it was established to support. Built around a model developed by POPS and described as the ‘continuum of care’, our work aims to provide support consistently and continuously throughout the families contact with the criminal justice system.

Throughout the summer staff and volunteers have been taking part in a series of fundraising events to raise awareness and support the work of POPS in celebration of our 25 Year Anniversary. So far members of our team have taken on an 8 mile assault course, a sponsored silence and a local car wash to raise funds. The staff at 2nd Chance even baked up some special 25 Year Anniversary cupcakes to celebrate. Underpinning all our individual fundraising efforts has been the POPS 25 Year raffle with fantastic prizes on offer including an i-Pad mini! Watch this space for more amazing fundraising endeavours celebrating our silver anniversary.