Polmont Young Offenders Institution

Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is Scotland's national facility for young men aged between 16 and 21 years who are committed to custody on remand (untried) and convicted sentences. The Scottish Government invested in a comprehensive rebuild of HMYOI Polmont, which was completed approximately 4 years ago.

Polmont’s position has provided a unique opportunity to deliver the Scottish Prison Service’s vision of Unlocking Potential and Transforming Lives. For Polmont, the Vision for Young People in custody is: “To use the time a young person spends in custody to enable them to prepare for a positive future” making every contact an opportunity to learn.

This vision recognises that some their time in custody may represent a chance - a rare chance - for them to engage in education or find someone who can help to point them to a better future. In addition, the approach seeks to mitigate the negative aspects of custody.

Visitors will be guided around the facilities such as the occupational hall where the young men are given training in construction trades, industrial cleaning, hairdressing, engineering, gardens, forklift and road safety, and so on, fulfilling the mission role “Unlocking potential – transforming lives”. Here tea/coffee will be served. A sample of the accommodation and the games hall will also be on show.

The closing date for requests will be Friday 13th July. The contact details for booking this visit are Donna.Gray@sps.pnn.gov.uk or Gayle.Haggerwood@sps.pnn.gov.uk . The details need to include
1. Full Name – Age (only over 16s will be allowed entry)
2. Home address
3. Daytime contact telephone number
4. Any health and safety considerations, i.e. wheelchair user etc.

The guided tours will take place on Sunday between 6.00pm - 8.00pm. Places are limited and so booking is essential.

Due to the obvious security implications, arrangements for visiting are subject to controls. Visitors require to be 16 or over and provide two forms of identification, one of which should be photographic, otherwise entry will not be permitted.

The following examples are accepted for photographic ID purposes:

Valid Passport / Photographic Driving Licence / Citizen/Validate UK card/ Senior Citizen’s Buss Pass/ Workplace photo ID card/ Photographic Bank Card/ Other official photo ID membership card.

The following examples are accepted as suitable for proof of address but must be less than 3 months old:

Utility bill/Council Tax bill/Benefit Book/Bank statement/Other letter from official source.

Prior to being admitted you will undergo “airport” style security checks. Mobile phones and cameras are not permitted in the establishment and we ask that you keep personal belongings to a minimum and any keys, wallets handbags are to be stored in the secure lockers at the front of house.