The Prisoner's Friends' Association

The Prisoners' Friends’ Association (PFA) began in 1982 at the suggestion of the Commissioner of the Correctional Services Department (CSD). It was founded to recruit volunteer prison visitors to visit prisoners who had no one visiting them. Prisoners were found who had had no visitors for more than ten years. Mrs. Jane Crawley became chairman of the PFA in 1986. In 1995 it was registered with the Societies Office Registry of the Hong Kong Police Force and received recognition as a charitable organization under section 88 of the Inland Revenue. Mrs. Crawley recruited over 100 prison visitors who started visiting in more than 8 of Hong Kong’s prisons. She also recruited pen pals who wrote to prisoners but did not visit in person. As the result of her work, the Correctional Services Department agreed to issue prison visiting passes to volunteer visitors so that they could visit and talk to prisoners face to face with the same privileges of a visiting solicitor or social worker.