We take another deep dive into Andy's prison program and the what and why of the key design features many of which have taken a decade or so to refine: Physically Active Learning, mind-body connection, managing mood, working to targets, competition, community and progressive overload - and what Andy's version of a supportive environment in a prison looks and feels like.

We end with a short foray into policy and what it might take to halt the seemingly inevitable march to a 6-figure prison population: Bravery, anyone?

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

It's taken a decade or so for Andy to really recognise the risks, limits and costs of his choice to do this work as a sole practitioner but here he is. In this episode he talks about the steps he has taken to move away from professional isolation as well as the goal to move at least some of the work upstream.

He also lifts the lid on the what and why of his pre-start courtship process that he has refined over the years before a prison program even gets a look-in:

1. Is there a NEED here I can contribute to?
2. Am I welcome and WANTED? 

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Andy's unique mentoring model pairs a prison leader with a senior partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in a reciprocal relationship lasting 12months. A first intake of 13 pairs were launched last year and as the first round comes to a close the prison half of two of those pairs talk about their experience and what it's meant to them in and out of role.

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Why would you put a prison leader and a corporate executive in a mutual mentoring model and what's in it for them? Andy explains the how and why of his unique partnership. 

We also talk bubbles and silos; the importance of getting out of them in order to recalibrate frames of reference and to check in with what 'good' actually looks like. We finish with Andy's somewhat different take on playing the long game and his reveal that - like David Attenborough - he plans to keep going till his mid-90s and what that means for the lifespan v heathspan equation.

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

One of the reasons Andy hasn't recorded any new material for a while is that he's been using all his bandwidth to Deal With Demons - most of which have been unleashed as a consequence of the work. While not fully out of the woods just yet he's regained enough confidence to pause at the podcast studio and reflect that of course the last few months have also included some major personal and professional milestones too. 

This is a wide-ranging episode that fills at least some of the silence since the last one: Vicarious trauma and solo working, prison inspectorate and impact assessment reports and residential retreats are all covered - as is that hope that has come with the appointment of James Timpson as Prisons Minister. 

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Most of the people behind bars are not there for reasons of 'organised' crime: They have not sat down and done a rational cost-benefit analysis of their crime and sentence before going out and doing the deed. 
Most people are there because of a failure to manage their emotions at a crucial time. Often - not always - drugs and alcohol play a part in that.
Exercise and physical activity give people a chance to practice the skills of managing their mood and to experience agency over their thoughts-behaviour often for the first time. It is the reason why Andy does what he does in the way he does it, and here he explains it a little bit more. 

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Andy argues that people in prison stand and fall on their capacity to build, nuture and repair relationships, and that this is crucial skill that needs to bridge both sides of the bars if the place is to be a safe one.
In the second of two post-Covid How The Work Is Harder Now podcasts he explains what is different now,  how that affects people like him doing this kind of work and what he thinks this means for the people in charge.

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Some Good News - & The Work Is Harder Now.
Covid has changed the game for the people in our prisons on either side of the bars.
Some of that was planned for and much of it seemingly was not, and as time goes on it becomes harder to unravel Cause & Effect as compound and cumulative take more of a hold. 
There are differences in People, Policy and Place now that weren't present in 2019 or were way less and these are making it harder for sole practitioners like Andy to come in and do the work they do.
Here Andy explains some of what he is experiencing as he re-starts his work behind bars with new funding, and what that means for him and his practice.

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

Andy explains the what and why of his prison program design: Physical activity challenges in groups to enable people to experience agency and community sometimes for the first time, and using this as a gateway to hearts and minds. He talks about the elusive nature of success in this kind of work and how he's learned to quantify it so he can hold on to hope and present it to others. 

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.

We are sending more people to prison more often, earlier and for longer. 
Our prison population has grown by 3/4 in the last few decades and is projected to keep growing. The fastest growing group are older men and it is with this group that Andy has been working with. Here he talks candidly about the sobering reality of living and working in an environment such as this, how difficult and fragile this work can be and how easily the evidence of success can be wiped away.

These podcasts don't get made unless Tom Haigh of Sound Post Production www.tomhaigh.com and interviewer Tony Maguire www.boxkik.com decide to roll out of bed. Fortunately for me I still seem to be giving them reason to do so. Chapeau, gentlemen.