Prison bookshop events volunteers

Volunteers are key to everything we do at The Children’s Book Project and our prisons programme is no different.  We find that volunteers get so much out of gifting books, and working with prisoners is especially compelling. Setting up a team of volunteers for each prison to work on book events is a requirement for us to roll out this programme.

• Volunteers would be enrolled onto the programme by completing a registration form and attending a virtual induction, they will receive a CBP branded t-shirt and talked through the process at the induction.  

• Volunteers running bookshops should commit to 1 or 2 days per term, normally one on a weekday and one at the weekend.  
• Volunteers would work with an experienced volunteer or Coordinator, either prison or CBP employee and would attend the relevant prison on a day organised by the prison & CBP.
• Every prison is different so guidance will be different on arrival but generally no phones are allowed on site and ID will be required to access the event.
• Volunteers will have a book delivery waiting for them and will set up an area with a selection of age relevant books dependant, they will sort the books into ages etc and then welcome the prisoners into the event advising and guiding on what book would/could suit a prisoners child.
• Following the event, the books would be sorted either into the library area or into our pop up book hut which may be on site for additional use on family days etc.
• It is helpful to have at least 3 people staffing each bookshop so a team of 5 or 6 is useful to ensure it is possible to get enough cover for a date.  After a bookshop, we ask volunteers to enter prisoner feedback into a google form so we can capture it, this will be completed when you have left the event using your own phone or computer.