The Prisoner Correspondence Network connects incarcerated people in Aotearoa with pen pals on the outside.
What matters is on the inside.
It’s truly life-changing to be able to exchange news, art and human friendship with someone. For people in New Zealand prisons, it can be a powerful source of hope and imagination.
By connecting incarcerated people with the outside world, the Prisoner Correspondence Network offers them a lifeline and a future.
What we do
Providing hope since 2016.
The Prisoner Correspondence Network (PCN) is a volunteer-run pen pal program for people in prisons in Aotearoa. PCN fosters friendships and support networks between incarcerated and free people, allows for writing practice, and provides a space for personal expression.
Operating since 2016, we are now New Zealand’s largest prisoner pen pal network, connecting hundreds of people on the inside with people on the outside.
Every December, PCN also runs a Holiday Card Drive, with members of the community sending cards to hundreds of prisoners across the country to ease the isolation of spending holidays alone inside.
why it matters
Prison can be extremely isolating.
Many people lose contact with their friends and whānau. PCN provides people on the inside with a connection to their community. For some people, their pen pal friendships can be a rare bright spot in an otherwise dark time in their lives.
Regular letter writing, as well as making and maintaining relationships with people on the outside, can also make it easier to readjust and reintegrate when they leave prison.
PCN can be rewarding to everyone involved. Pen pals on both the inside and outside have established wonderful friendships that have continued after release from prison. It also benefits our communities as a whole when people on the inside are provided with dignity, compassion, and respect.
Questions?
Find the answers in our FAQ, or reach out to us by email.
Help us keep helping
Although PCN is volunteer-run, it still costs a lot to keep the network running.
donations are processed through our parent organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa.
