Age Concern Older Offenders Project (ACOOP) provides social care, advice and support to older offenders and their families, both in prison and within the wider criminal justice system.

ACOOP serves the South West of England, being an initiative developed by Age Concern Regional Support Services (South West), a charitable company comprising the 14 Age Concern organisations and 33 groups in the region and Age Concern England.

Age Concern identified the need for this work because:

• The numbers of older people entering the criminal justice system has trebled in the past twenty years
• It is estimated that approximately 10% of prisoners are aged over 50
• Despite being the fastest growing section of the prison population, there is little research, little data and information and little current provision available
• There are no specific national policies addressing the particular needs of this group
• Individual institutions and organisations often lack the resources and specialist knowledge to meet older people’s health and social care requirements

ACOOP is the first project in England seeking to address some of these issues in a practical and effective way, working in partnership with prisons, probation trusts, other voluntary and community groups and prisoners and their families. We work closely with RESTORE 50+, the national older prisoners self help group, who first identified the need for this type of initiative.

If you would like to know more about the Age Concern Older Offenders Project, please contact them via one of the routes below...