From 2002 there has been a major initiative to engage the voluntary sector and wider community in the work of prisons, part of a general trend in Government policy. This work edited by three experts and containing contributions by a range of informed commentators seeks to enable both parties to understand what is involved, the history of voluntary work in prisons - which dates back several hundred years - and how to set about devising a scheme or promoting an idea. It gives practical advice and points to the pitfalls and likely difficulties - and contains in an appendix a directory of existing voluntary organizations with experience of working in or alongside prisons.