The visits nobody signs up for

Rescue work has an obvious appeal. There is a siren, an emergency, a clear before and after. Our correctional centre visits have none of that. You sit in a hot room with a teenager who has not had a visitor in eight months and who does not particularly want to talk to you either.

The first three visits are usually silence. The fourth is when someone tells you what they are actually in for, and how long they have been waiting for a court date that keeps getting moved.

We keep the schedule fixed for exactly this reason. A visit that might happen is worth very little to someone with nothing else in the calendar. A visit that always happens on the same day of the month is worth a great deal.