Fondation Relais Enfants Parents Romands - REPR

What Fondation Relais Enfants Parents Romands - REPR does

Fondation Relais Enfants Parents Romands (REPR) is a Swiss public utility foundation headquartered in Lausanne, with additional offices in Geneva and Bas-Vully (Sugiez). It was legally constituted in 2005 and traces its operational roots to 2004, when it began as "Carrefour Prison" and opened the Chalet near Lausanne's prison facilities; the entity was renamed REPR in 2014 to reflect its broader Romandy mandate. The foundation's mission is to maintain and support the parent-child bond for families affected by parental incarceration across the French-speaking regions of Switzerland.

REPR's core services span the full operational chain needed to keep children connected to an incarcerated parent: reception at the prison entrance, accompanied transport of children and families, supervised in-prison visits, creative workshops for children, psychosocial information and guidance, and professional training for institutional partners. It operates on-site at more than ten prison facilities across the cantons of Vaud, Geneva, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Valais. Service delivery is human-led and high-touch: an 11-person staff plus a volunteer network that contributed 3,241 hours in the most recent reporting year.

The foundation is a non-commercial entity; its operating budget is funded by donations, multi-year grants from Swiss philanthropic foundations (the Drosos Foundation and the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation are explicitly named), and contributions from public authorities. REPR participates in the EUROCHIPS European network and the COPE federation, publishes reference material including a white book on parental detention, and runs recurring sector events such as the Colloque Parentalité & Détention and Action Solidarité. Governance is exercised under Swiss federal foundation law, with Viviane Schekter serving as director.

Name

Fondation Relais Enfants Parents Romands - REPR

Legal name

Fondation Relais Enfants Parents Romands - REPR

Website

https://repr.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

REPR is a Swiss public utility foundation that supports the parent-child bond for families affected by parental incarceration across Romandy, operating reception, transport, supervised visits, and training services at more than ten prison facilities in six cantons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and charitable contributions: The foundation receives donations from individuals, corporations, and charitable organizations. Donations are the primary mechanism for private-sector support. The foundation publishes specific donation amounts tied to services (CHF 40 for a child's transport, CHF 80 for a craft afternoon, CHF 120 for a family meal at a special occasion visit). Donations can be made via bank transfer (IBAN CH86 0076 7000 R5416815 3) or PayPal.
2. Foundation grants and subsidies: REPR receives grants and subsidies from public and private foundations. The Drosos Foundation is explicitly identified as a supporting foundation. The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation is noted as having supported the documentary production. Subsidies from government and public authorities are referenced as part of the foundation's resource base.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

REPR delivers free, in-person reception, transport, supervised prison-visit, and creative-workshop services to families — particularly children — of persons detained across the prisons of French-speaking Switzerland (Romandy). The foundation operates welcoming spaces directly at prison entrances (notably the Chalet at Champ-Dollon in Geneva), provides socio-educational and legal orientation through the Info Familles service, and sustains a 3,000+ km annual shuttle transport program linking families to prisons.

Product overview

REPR (Relais Enfants Parents Romands) is a non-profit foundation that provides comprehensive support services for families and children affected by parental detention in French-speaking Switzerland. The organization operates as a unified service portfolio centered on family reception, transport assistance, supervised prison visits, and child-focused support programs. Key offerings include the Chalet reception center at Champ-Dollon prison, the online Guide REPR des Prisons for practical information, creative workshops during visits, and annual training events including the Colloque Parentalité & Détention. The foundation also coordinates volunteer welcoming teams across multiple prisons and organizes the annual Action Solidarité fundraising event.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accueil et Transports REPR (Reception and Transport) Reception and free shuttle transport services at prison entrances across Swiss Romandy — including Champ-Dollon, La Brenaz, Curabilis, Bois-Mermet, La Croisée, EPO, Bellechasse, Prison Centrale, La Promenade, EEPB and Sion — welcoming families before and after visits and transporting them from train stations to prisons. Delivered free of charge to families of detainees.
• Visites REPR (Supervised Prison Visits) Supervised, child-friendly prison visits enabling children to spend time with their detained parent in a structured and supportive setting, with REPR socio-educational staff providing guidance before, during and after each visit. Intended for children with an incarcerated parent and their accompanying family members.
• Focus Enfants (Children Support Program) Dedicated program for children with an incarcerated parent, offering information resources, parental support, child-friendly materials, and a dedicated website section titled "Ton parent est en prison?" reaching children directly.
• Info Familles (Family Information and Orientation) Information and guidance service for families of detained persons covering legal orientation, administrative procedures, visiting rights, and practical support — delivered through socio-educational and legal staff via phone (0800 233 233), email ([email protected]) and in-person interviews.
• Guide REPR des Prisons (Online Prison Guide) Online, self-serve guide providing practical information about prisons in French-speaking Switzerland, including visiting procedures, parcel rules, food parcel regulations (e.g., the new Champ-Dollon rule effective December 2025), and prison-specific guidelines; accessible at guide.repr.ch.
• Sensibilisation & Formation (Awareness and Training) Training and awareness programs for professionals and the general public on parental imprisonment and its effects on children, including the annual Colloque Parentalité & Détention conference and tailored interdisciplinary training sessions.
• Ateliers Créatifs (Creative Workshops) Creative workshops conducted during facilitated prison visits that enable children and their detained parents to interact through shared creative activities (e.g., 81 workshops reaching 244 children and 156 detained parents in 2016).
• Le Chalet de Champ-Dollon (Reception Center) Dedicated reception center located directly in front of Champ-Dollon prison in Geneva, providing a welcoming space for families before and after prison visits; recognized as a model best-practice facility for child-friendly reception at detention sites.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4784 family exchanges, 714 professional interviews, 213 children taken in charge, 81 creative workshops (244 children + 156 detained parents), 585 transported persons across 3000+ km
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EUROCHIPS (European Committee for Children of Imprisoned Parents)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEUROCHIPS is a European association that advocates for children separated from parents due to imprisonment. REPR (originally Carrefour Prison) joined as a member. The partnership involves knowledge sharing, best practice exchange, European advocacy, and participation in campaigns such as COPE (Children of Prisoners Europe).
• Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerREPR collaborates with Children of Prisoners Europe on advocacy, awareness campaigns (including the annual 'Ce n'est pas ma sentence et pourtant c'est ma peine' campaign), drawing competitions, and European-level policy work on children's rights when a parent is imprisoned.
• Romandy prison authorities (Champ-Dollon, EPO, La Croisée, and others)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerREPR operates in partnership with all major Romandy prisons, hosting reception spaces (including the Chalet at Champ-Dollon) and facilitating visits inside prison facilities. These operational partnerships enable REPR's core service delivery model of welcoming families and facilitating child-parent contact.
• Reiso.orgminorOthersREPR publishes job postings through Reiso.org, a social work professional platform in French-speaking Switzerland. Reiso serves as a job board channel for recruitment of socio-educational staff positions.
• Manor and Jumbo (retail partners)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorREPR sells solidarity gift products (Christmas tree bags) through Manor and Jumbo retail stores in Switzerland at CHF 9.90 per unit. This is a retail distribution partnership for fundraising merchandise rather than a core service partnership.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Prison Fellowship International: Global NGO working with prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, including children of incarcerated parents. Operates at much greater scale and broader scope than REPR, with comparable child-and-family advocacy through member organizations.
• NACRO (UK): UK charity working on crime reduction, resettlement, and family support for people affected by the criminal justice system, including families of prisoners. Operates at broader scale and wider remit than REPR, with comparable family-facing service delivery.
• Caritas Suisse: Swiss humanitarian and social-services umbrella organization that addresses poverty, family hardship, and social exclusion. While not focused exclusively on incarceration, Caritas Suisse is a comparable Swiss non-profit providing family-oriented social support services funded largely by donations and public mandates.
• Spurgeons Children's Charity: UK children's charity whose 'Inside Out' programme supports children of prisoners through prison visits and family work. Comparable in targeting children of incarcerated parents, but operates as part of a wider children's services portfolio.
• Osborne Association: US-based nonprofit serving people affected by criminal justice involvement, including children and families of incarcerated individuals through visitation support, reentry services, and advocacy. Broader mission scope than REPR, but overlapping family/child support activities.
• Croix-Rouge suisse (Swiss Red Cross): National humanitarian organization in Switzerland operating under public-utility recognition, delivering health, social, and family support services. Comparable in legal status, Swiss non-profit structure, and donation-plus-subsidy funding model, though with a much broader humanitarian mandate.
• Bernardo's (UK): UK children's charity running services that include work with children of prisoners and family support in justice contexts. Comparable in child-focused mission and family-support delivery, though as part of a much larger national children's services portfolio.

Direct peers

• Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE): European network that REPR is itself a member of; COPE coordinates advocacy, awareness campaigns, and policy work on children of imprisoned parents across Europe. REPR's role within COPE makes it a member-and-peer simultaneously, with COPE representing the supra-national layer of the same movement.
• Pact (Prison Advice & Care Trust): UK charity that runs the 'Caterpillar Project' specifically supporting children and families of prisoners through prison visits, in-prison family support, and policy advocacy. Highly comparable in mission and operating model to REPR, though operating in the UK rather than Switzerland.
• EUROCHIPS (European Committee for Children of Imprisoned Parents): European association advocating for children separated from parents due to imprisonment, of which REPR (originally Carrefour Prison) is a member. Directly comparable mission and constituency, operating at the European level rather than the Swiss Romandy level.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FondationREPR
• Instagraminstagram.com/reel/C4GTBgdICy2
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fondation-relais-enfants-parents-romands-repr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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