HMP Berwyn Phone Calls

When someone you care about is sent to HMP Berwyn, the priority after knowing they are safe is usually communication. How do you get on their phone list? When can they call? Why does the credit run out so fast, and what can you do about it? This guide answers all of those questions clearly, based on the most up to date information available for 2026.

HMP Berwyn is a large, modern prison. It was purpose-built in 2017 with family contact and rehabilitation at its centre, and it has real advantages over older establishments, including in-cell phones that give prisoners far more flexibility than those in Victorian-era jails. But size and modernity also bring complexity, and the first few weeks while admin beds in can feel frustrating. Knowing how everything works from the start makes a real difference.

About HMP Berwyn

HMP Berwyn sits on Wrexham Industrial Estate in North Wales, four miles from Wrexham town centre. It opened in February 2017 at a cost of £250 million and is a Category C training and resettlement prison for adult men, operated directly by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. With a design capacity of 2,106 prisoners across three residential communities called Alwen, Bala, and Ceiriog, it is the largest prison in the United Kingdom by population.

Category C is an important distinction. Unlike Category A or B prisons which hold high-risk or remand prisoners, Berwyn is principally a training prison. The men held there are generally serving medium to long-term sentences and have been assessed as suitable for a less restrictive environment that focuses on education, work, and preparation for release. That said, the prison also accommodates some remand and Category B prisoners pending transfer, so the population is more mixed in practice than the official category suggests.

Berwyn was designed differently from traditional prison buildings. Rather than long wings radiating from a central hub, the prison uses a campus model with three large houses, each divided into smaller communities of around 88 men. These communities have shared spaces, education facilities, and a communal kitchen. Every room has its own shower, toilet, and in-cell telephone. A Unilink laptop in each room is used for booking visits, ordering canteen items, accessing education content, and sending requests to staff.

The rehabilitation focus at Berwyn is extensive. Education is delivered by Coleg Cambria and covers basic literacy and numeracy through to vocational qualifications in warehousing, manufacturing, and customer service. A 12-workshop industry building at the centre of the site offers hands-on trade training in bricklaying, joinery, plastering, and industrial cleaning. There is a resettlement hub where prisoners meet work coaches and prepare for employment before release, as well as a gym, sports hall, floodlit football pitch, library, wellbeing centre, and multi-faith chaplaincy.

An independent inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in early 2025 noted that living conditions across the prison were good and that new leadership had brought energy to the management team. The inspection also highlighted ongoing challenges including drug availability, high rates of self-harm, and too many prisoners not fully engaged in purposeful activity. These are issues common across the prison estate and do not significantly affect daily family contact, but they are worth knowing about as context for the environment your loved one is living in.

How Phone Calls Work at HMP Berwyn

One of the most practical advantages of HMP Berwyn compared to many older UK prisons is that every room has an in-cell phone. The official GOV.UK page for the prison states that prisoners are able to make calls at any time. This is not the case at older establishments where prisoners queue for a shared communal phone during set association periods, often just a couple of hours a day. The in-cell system removes that restriction entirely and means your loved one can call you during locked hours as well as activity time, which makes regular contact much more manageable for families.

The phone system works on a PIN model. When a prisoner arrives at HMP Berwyn, they are given a personal identification number linked to their individual phone account. This account holds their credit balance and their list of approved contacts. Before every call, the prisoner enters their PIN. The system then checks whether the number they are dialling is on their approved list. If it is, the call connects and the cost is taken from their credit. If it is not on the list, the call will not go through.

There are two important things to understand about how costs work. First, the call is paid for by the prisoner from their phone credit, not by you. You do not pay anything to receive a call from prison. Second, the rate charged to the prisoner depends on the type of number being called. Calls to standard UK landline numbers starting with 01, 02, or 03 are charged at a cheaper rate than calls to mobile numbers starting with 07. This difference matters a great deal and is explained in detail below.

All calls made through a prisoner's personal phone account, with the exception of calls to solicitors and legal representatives made through a separate legal account, are recorded and may be listened to by prison staff. This applies to every social call regardless of what is being discussed. Both parties are told at the start of the call that it is being recorded. There is no way to opt out.

One thing that catches many families off guard: you cannot call a prisoner at HMP Berwyn. There is no way to dial through to a cell or wing and the phones inside do not accept incoming calls. Contact is always started by the prisoner calling you. If you need to reach the prison about a welfare concern, you call the switchboard or Safer Custody line, but you will not be able to speak directly to your loved one that way.

How to Get Added to the Phone List at HMP Berwyn

Before your loved one can call you, your number needs to be on their approved contact list. At HMP Berwyn this is done through the in-cell Unilink kiosk system. Your loved one puts in a request to add your number and prison security staff then check and approve it. The GOV.UK page for Berwyn says this process may take a few days. In practice, particularly in the first week or two after arrival when backlogs are common, it can sometimes take a little longer, especially if your loved one has transferred from another prison.

Each prisoner can have up to 20 approved numbers on their personal PIN list. Legal contacts such as solicitors are held on a separate legal account and do not count towards this limit. If you change your phone number at any point, your loved one will need to submit the new number for approval. The old number stays on the list until it is removed, but calls to it will no longer reach you.

Plan ahead from day oneRather than giving your loved one your mobile number, give them a virtual landline number from Prison Call to add to the list instead. From the moment the number is approved, every call they make to you is charged at the much cheaper landline rate. You receive the call on your mobile exactly as normal and you only need to go through the approval process once.

Phone Call Costs at HMP Berwyn in 2026

The cost of each call is taken from the prisoner's phone credit, which is funded from their private cash balance. This is money sent in by family and friends, plus what the prisoner earns through prison work. Wages at Berwyn typically range from a few pounds to around £20 per week depending on the activity. Phone credit is bought through the in-cell canteen system.

Call rates across all HMPPS prisons, including HMP Berwyn, follow a national tariff that was reduced by 20% in April 2025. These rates are fixed until May 2027.

HMPPS defines weekday as midnight Sunday through to midday Friday, and weekend as midday Friday through to midnight Sunday. There is a minimum charge of 10p per call regardless of length. Calls to the Samaritans are free from all UK prison phones.

To put this in practical terms: a 20-minute weekday call from HMP Berwyn to a mobile number costs £1.10 in phone credit. If your loved one calls every weekday for 20 minutes, that is around £22 per month just from weekday calls alone. Add weekends and it rises further.

Because Berwyn has in-cell phones available at any time, prisoners have the opportunity to call more often than those in older prisons. That is a genuine positive for staying close, but it also means credit can run down faster than families expect.

How to Cut the Cost of Calls From HMP Berwyn by Over 55%

The cost difference between calling a mobile and calling a landline exists because of how the national HMPPS tariff is structured. Mobile numbers sit in a more expensive billing category than standard UK landline numbers. Since most families in the UK no longer have a traditional home landline, most prisoners end up paying the higher mobile rate by default because it is simply the only number they have been given.

A virtual landline solves this. A virtual landline is a standard UK local phone number, for example one starting with 01978 for Wrexham or 020 for London, that is not tied to a physical phone socket. When someone calls that number, the call is automatically forwarded to your mobile. To the prison phone system, it looks like a regular landline, so the prisoner is charged the cheaper landline rate. You receive the call on your mobile as you normally would. There is no app to install, no equipment to buy, and nothing changes about how you answer.

The cost difference between calling a mobile and calling a landline exists because of how the national HMPPS tariff is structured. Mobile numbers sit in a more expensive billing category than standard UK landline numbers. Since most families in the UK no longer have a traditional home landline, most prisoners end up paying the higher mobile rate by default because it is simply the only number they have been given.A virtual landline solves this. A virtual landline is a standard UK local phone number, for example one starting with 01978 for Wrexham or 020 for London, that is not tied to a physical phone socket. When someone calls that number, the call is automatically forwarded to your mobile. To the prison phone system, it looks like a regular landline, so the prisoner is charged the cheaper landline rate. You receive the call on your mobile as you normally would. There is no app to install, no equipment to buy, and nothing changes about how you answer.

How to Send Money to Someone at HMP Berwyn

Prisoners at HMP Berwyn buy phone credit through the in-cell canteen system, funded from their private cash account. To add money to that account, families use the official online payment service at gov.uk/send-money-to-prisoner. You will need the prisoner's full name and their prison number. Bank transfers, cheques, postal orders, and cash by post are no longer accepted. The online service is the only route.

There is a cap on how much can be held in a private cash account. The weekly spending limit varies by establishment. Prisoners use their private cash to buy phone credit, toiletries, food, and other permitted goods through the canteen. Some families find it easier to make regular smaller payments rather than one large transfer, simply to keep the balance topped up steadily.

If phone credit is running out quickly, the most effective solution is switching to a virtual landline. Cutting the cost per minute in half means the same credit lasts twice as long. That has a more immediate impact than simply sending more money.

Other Ways to Stay in Touch With Someone at HMP Berwyn

Phone calls are the most direct form of contact but they are not the only option, particularly in the first week or two before the PIN list has been approved and calls are possible.

You can send letters at any time to HMP Berwyn, Bridge Road, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham, LL13 9QE. Always include the prisoner's full name and prison number on the envelope. Without the prison number, delivery can be delayed. All post other than clearly marked legal letters is opened and checked by staff before being handed to the prisoner. There is no limit on how many letters you can send. Writing in the first week before phone access is live is a good way to stay connected while the admin catches up.

The Email a Prisoner service at emailaprisoner.com lets you send messages that are printed and delivered to the cell, usually on the next working day. There is a small fee per message. Some prisoners at Berwyn can also send typed replies through the same platform. It is a useful backup to phone calls, especially for sharing longer messages, photos, or anything that is hard to cover in a short call.

Video calls are available at HMP Berwyn and can be booked through the Prison Video app at prisonvideo.gov.uk. Slots must be requested and approved from inside the prison and availability can vary. For children especially, being able to see as well as hear a parent is very valuable and video calls are worth setting up even if it takes a little time to arrange.

National Prison Radio broadcasts into cells across England and Wales 24 hours a day. Families can send song requests, written messages, and voice recordings via nationalprisonradio.com. These are read out and played on weekly episodes. It is a small but meaningful way to let your loved one know they are being thought of.

Visiting HMP Berwyn

Before you can book a visit, your loved one must add you to their visitor list. This can take up to two weeks, so ask them to submit your details as early as possible after arrival. Once you are on the list, visits can be booked online through the Barnardo's family service that runs the visitors centre at Berwyn, or by calling the visits booking line on 01978 523 300. The line is open Monday to Friday, 11am to midday and 1:30pm to 2:30pm. All visits must be booked in advance and walk-ins are not permitted.

Each visit allows up to three adults plus children. The visitors centre is managed by Barnardo's charity and has a play area for children. Refreshments are available so bring coins or a card since notes are not always accepted. HMP Berwyn runs several family days throughout the year including themed visits at Christmas and over the summer, which are a good way to spend more relaxed time together.

Plan to arrive 30 to 40 minutes before your session time. Security is thorough with ID checks, metal detectors, and drug detection dogs. Dress sensibly with nothing revealing, no offensive slogans, and nothing that could be confused with staff or prisoner clothing. Phones, smartwatches, and large bags go in lockers. If you need to bring medication, declare it before the search and only bring what is necessary in its original packaging.If you receive certain benefits or hold an NHS health certificate, you may be able to get help with travel costs through the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme. It is worth checking whether you qualify before your first visit.

HMP Berwyn is four miles from Wrexham town centre on the A483. There is free parking on site with around 200 spaces. The nearest railway stations are Wrexham General and Wrexham Central, both around four miles away. Most visitors take a taxi from the station at a cost of around £10. Chester is about 30 minutes by car, Liverpool around one hour, and Manchester around 90 minutes. The postcode for sat-nav is LL13 9QE.

If this guide has helped, there is plenty more on the site to support you. Understanding the basics of how prison calls work is a good starting point, but if you want to go deeper, our guide to prison phone call rules in the UK explains the national framework behind everything from approved number lists to call monitoring, and why the rules exist the way they do. For a straightforward walkthrough of the practicalities, how to receive calls from prison takes you through the full process step by step, from the moment your loved one arrives to the first call landing on your phone.

On the cost side, why are prison calls so expensive breaks down exactly where the charges come from and why mobile rates are so much higher than landline rates. If you are looking for the clearest summary of your options, cheap prison calls UK compares every practical route to reducing what your loved one spends on credit each month. And if you are not yet sure which plan is right for your situation, the free prison call assessment takes two minutes and gives you a personalised recommendation based on how often you receive calls and what prison your loved one is in.

If you have had a difficult experience with how the prison has handled contact or communication, our guide on how to complain about a prison's treatment of your loved one explains the formal process and who to contact. Staying connected is hard enough without unnecessary obstacles, and knowing your rights makes a real difference.