HMP NOTTINGHAM VISITORS' CENTRE
About the Community and Visitors' Centre
Contact details
How to get there
Community and Visitors' Centre opening hours
Facilities on offer
Disabled access?
Information for visitors to HMP Nottingham
Prison visiting times
How to book a visit
Before you visit
What to bring as ID
Bringing the children?
What can I take in to the visits hall?
What happens on a visit?
Help with travel costs
Support from other organisations
Giving the prisoner property
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Gina Kelly, Nottingham prison community and visitors' centre managerContact details
Community and Visitors’ Centre,
HMP Nottingham, Perry Road,
Sherwood,
Nottingham
NG5 3AG
pact family support line:
0115 872 4556 or 0115 872 4559
E-mail: nottingham@prisonadvice.org.uk
The Community and Visitors' Centre manager is Gina Kelly.
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How to get there
HMP Nottingham is in Sherwood, Nottingham.
Directions to HMP Nottingham by public transport
A taxi from the station to the prison takes around 15 minutes and costs approximately £8. Alternatively, from Nottingham train station or Broadmarsh bus station, make your way to the Victoria Centre. NCTX buses come every five minutes and numbers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3 will take you to the Victoria Centre bus station. Opposite the Victoria Centre at bus stop number T2 take a number 15, 16 or 17 bus to Nottingham Prison.
Get off the bus at Perry Road. Walk up Hucknall road and turn right onto Perry road. The prison entrance will be on your left. At the prison entrance follow the road down the hill. The Community and Visitors' Centre is on the left.
Getting to HMP Nottingham by Car
Leave the M1 at Junction 26 and take the A610 to Nottingham for 3 miles. Upon reaching ring road A6514, turn left towards Mansfield (A60) along the Western Boulevard and Valley Road. Continue over the railway bridge and through two sets of traffic lights to an island at A611 Hucknall Road (City Hospital should be clearly visible on the left); turn right at the island towards Nottingham City centre and go up the hill to the traffic lights; turn left onto Perry Road. Turn left after approximately 50m into the prison.
Car parking for visitors is available and signposted about half way up the hill on the left.
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Visitors' Centre opening hours
Monday - Sunday 08.30am - 4.30pm
Please note that the prison visiting times are slightly different to the Visitors' Centre opening hours. If you need to find out the visiting times, see below.
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Facilities on offer at the Visitors' Centre
- information and advice about prison routines, visiting procedure, the Prison Assisted Visits Scheme, and other organisations that offer help
- a pleasant cafe area serving hot and cold refreshments
- toilets and baby changing facilities
- emotional and practical support from pact's family support workers always on hand to offer support and a listening ear
- a double PC workstation with internet access where you can access support services and information, book visits online, obtain assistance with writing CVs and more.
- two comfortable quiet rooms for visitors to meet privately with support staff or organisations or legal representatives.
- several unsupervised play areas and an outside seating area.
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Disabled access?
Access to the centre is down a steep slope. If you require help, please call us to 0115 872 4556 prior to your visits and a member of staff can assist you. There is a wheelchair ramp at the entrance of the building.
On booking your visit, if you have any mobility or special requirements, please highlight them at the time of booking and the prison will try to accommodate all reasonable adjustments.
A leaflet, detailing information for visitors, is available from the visitors' centre. If you would like to read this leaflet in an alternative format, please call 0115 872 4115.
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Monday - Thursday 9.00am - 11.00am and 2.30pm - 4.00pm
Friday - Sunday 09.00am - 11.00am and 2.00pm - 4:00pm
There are no visits on on Christmas Day, Boxing day and Good Friday
Please note that all visits must be booked at least 48 hours in advance.
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- to book a visit, call the prison's Booking Line on 0115 872 4111. The booking line is open Monday to Friday 9 - 12am and 1 - 6.45pm and Saturdays and Sundays 9am – 12pm and 1pm – 4pm. Alternatively you can email socialvisits.nottingham@hmps.gsi.gov.uk. Visits can be booked in person but only ehrn you are already attending the centre for a current visit.
- all visits must be booked at least 48 hours in advance
- up to three adults and up to three children can visit a prisoner at any one time. All visitors must be together to enter the prison as there is only one VO to allow admission for the whole party.
- visitors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult
How many visits is the prisoner allowed?
It depends whether the prisoner is convicted or on remand.
- remand prisoners can have up to three visits a week. You do not need a Visiting Order and you can use the booking line or email address quoting the prisoners name. The names and addresses of those visiting must be supplied at the time of booking. Please be aware that remand visitors are only allowed three visits a week and if you book to see the prisoner three times it may mean that another visitor does not have the opportunity to see him.
If you are visiting a prisoner on remand, collect your remand slip from the desk in the centre.
- convicted prisoners are allowed three visits per month. You must wait until you have received a Visiting Order in the post before you can book a visit. Convicted prisoners will post a visiting order (VO) to the people they wish to visit. Once visitors receive a VO they should contact the visits booking team by phone or email to arrange a suitable time and date to visit. (Visitors must quote the VO number when booking a visit).
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Before you visit
Give yourself plenty of time to get to HMP Nottingham. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the visit is due to begin. There is a pleasant cafe and waiting area with pact staff on hand to help you.
You will need to bring identification with you - please see the list of appropriate ID below. You will also need to bring a pound coin to use in the locker where your belongings will be kept while you are on the visit. (This pound coin is refundable.)
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Adult visitors
Must bring one of the following:
Where the visitor is unable to produce one of the above the prison staff may accept a combination of two or more:
local authority
Children who are visiting need to bring one of the following:
You MUST still bring your ID with you every time you visit!
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Bringing the children?
All children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. A supervised children's play area inside the visits hall is available for some visits. Children must be supervised at all times. To find out if the play area is open for your visit, please call the centre on 0115 872 4556.
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What can I take in to the visits hall?
When you go into the prison for your visit, you must leave almost all your possessions behind in a locker in the visitors' centre. You will need a one pound coin for the locker, which is refundable.
The only items you can take into the prison are:
- your Visiting Order
- up to £20 in change, to buy refreshments
- a baby's beaker, emptied
- your locker key
- any prescribed medication (all medication must be pre-approved by the Security or Operations Governors, ask in the visitors' centre for details).
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- Please leave at least half an hour before your visit. When you arrive at the centre, check in at the desk. There is a pleasant waiting area and a cafe serving refreshments. pact staff can provide practical and emotional support.
- You will then be called for and escorted from the centre to the prison through security. At peak times there may be delays entering the visits room due to the search processes. The prison uses a tally system of admittance to minimise the time people have to spend queuing. The prison asks that visitors adhere to this process.
- All visitors (including children) will be searched. This will include a rub down search and metal detection search. You may be asked to remove your shoes. You will then be taken into the prison visits hall, where your visit will take place.
- Once you enter the visits hall you will be allocated a table where you will have your visit.
- The visit will last approximately one and half hours. There is a pact lunch refreshment service in the visits hall and disabled and baby change toilets.
- If you have any complaints, please contact the duty visits Senior Officer or alternatively you can write to the Head of Operations.
- There are very occasionally times that visitors will not be allowed to make an immediate exit from the prison due to an operational emergency. Therefor your travel arrangements may need to allow for delays.
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Help with travel costs
If you are on a low income or you receive benefits, you might be entitled to get help from the government with the cost of visiting your relative in prison. Help is provided by the Assisted Prison Visits Unit (APVU). You can claim for two visits a month.
For more information about the APVU:
- ask at the Visitors' Centre
- call the APVU on 0845 300 1423
- or visit the Prison Service website
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If you would like to hand property into a prisoner, here is the procedure:
The prisoner must have put an application into the reception department listing the specific items he wishes to hand in. You can only hand in the items on this list that have been approved, any additional items will not be accepted. Please do not to bring anything additional with you.
When checking in at the centre, please make the staff aware that you have brought property for the prisoner. Each item will then be searched and put into a clear property bag. This is then sealed and taken by staff into the prison to give to the prisoner.
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We hope you enjoy your visit.
The Community and Visitors' Centre at HMP Nottingham