Member - Volunteers needed on Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) at HMP Bristol
- Body
- Independent Monitoring Board (IMB)
- Appointing Department
- Ministry of Justice
- Sectors
- Judicial, Prison & Policing, Regulation
- Location
- HMP Bristol, 19 Cambridge Road, Bristol BS7 8PS
- Skills required
- Regulation
- Number of Vacancies
- 3
- Remuneration
- Unremunerated though reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
- Time Requirements
- Approx. 2 to 3 visits per month although this may be slightly higher during the first year of training. Board meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month between 1pm and 3pm – face to face
Campaign Timeline
-
Competition Launched
20/09/2022
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Closed for Applications
30/10/2022
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Panel Sift
TBC
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Final Interview Date
TBC
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Announcement
TBC
Vacancy Description
We are currently looking for new volunteers to join IMB Bristol helping to ensure that proper standards of care and decency are maintained.
Person Specification
Applicants do not need any special qualifications or experience as we will provide all necessary training and support. Candidates need to be over 18 years of age and live within approx.25 miles of the prison. You need to be enthusiastic, open minded, possess effective communication skills and have the ability to exercise sound, objective judgement.
Additional Information
The Board at HMP Bristol is keen to include representation from the Black, Asian or any other minority communities in the UK. The IMB at HMP Bristol can accommodated all the pressures of time and availability of members but on average each member may be invited to undertake 1 or 2 rota visits, a specialist meeting and a board meeting each month. Applications are invited from candidates who live within 25 miles of HMP Bristol, although it is important to consider the traffic in Bristol and need to find parking which is not always easy. About 500 men live at HMP Bristol across five main wings. One wing has single rooms while the rest are shared. HMP Bristol is a category B prison which currently holds mainly adult male prisoners. In addition to this, there are a small number of young offenders. It is a local prison which means it only holds convicted and remand prisoners from local courts; and most prisoners are only incarcerated at HMP Bristol for 12 months or less.
Inside every prison, there is an IMB – a group of ordinary members of the public doing an extraordinary job. IMB members are independent, unpaid and complete an average of 2-3 visits per month depending on the needs of the Board and the individual. Members are the eyes and ears of Ministers and monitor the day-to-day life in their local prison to ensure that proper standards of care and decency are maintained.
Your background can be as a student, a person of working age or retired. We welcome applications from people over 18 and are particularly keen to hear from those of working age and individuals from black and minority ethnic communities, since these groups are under-represented on existing Boards. The role is about fairness and decency and is always rewarding, educational and challenging.
Please click on www.imb.org.uk to find out how being an IMB member can benefit you. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuQ4WxirPlg and view the short film ‘Joining the Independent Monitoring Board’ and hear current IMB members talking about their role.