Does anyone have any experience or information regarding either voluntary hospital or prison visiting? That is to say, visiting either patients or prison inmates who get (for whatever reason) no visitors.
Actually I have no idea if the concept even exists here in Switzerland but a couple of members of my family have been doing it for quite a long time back in the UK, where it is much appreciated, I understand.
I guess it`s of more social value that planking.... oops . . . wash your mouth out!
Any (meaningful) info would be much appreciated.
Basher.

Not sure about that but check out:

http://www.benevol.ch/index.php?id=237

Prison... you want to volunteer your time to go and keep people who are sitting in prison company...

I can think of more than a few ways to spend your time to help a much more worthy cause than to have a nice conversation with those deemed unfit for freedom due to their own actions.

Care to elaborate as to why exactly you feel this would be the best use of your time?

You have never heard of the concept of re-integration into society or paying off ones debt, right?

Sure, why not. "re-integration"...

but that's still confined to after the sentence is served.


For the record, I don't have a problem with the idea of visiting retirement homes or hospitals (wouldn't be crazy about the idea from the other side regardless) it's the prisons I just don't get.

Mmm - interesting reply . . I guess I should have expected it.
However I appreciate your point of view.
In any case . in answer to your question:
I wouldn`t say that visiting prisoners is the BEST use of my time but I do feel (through the experiences of my family being involved in these type of things) that there are many people serving out their debt to society, who have no family to visit them.
They are paying for their crimes by being incarcerated - but surely re-integration can begin before their release. I`m not sure that visitations is that much of a luxury for prisoners but maybe isolation can lead to a more insular and potentially antisocial character - therefore maintaining or rebuilding some sort of normality prior to release could be a good thing.
Actually I believe in many worthwhile causes, I can assure you and I admire anyone who supports them either passively or actively.
In any case - `Those deemed unfit for freedom, due to their own actions` is true but very general. What I mean is that there are people in prison for a huge range of crimes. I remember a while back in the UK, some guy went to prison for selling fruit in Pounds and Ounces instead of the official Kg.
Thanks for your comments anyway.
Cheers,
Basher.

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