Life After Prison

This week on Life After Prison, we are joined by Lisa Newman – an addiction recovery coach and founder of Recalibrate Recovery Services. Drawing on her own lived experience of addiction, prison, and recovery, Lisa now supports others through one-to-one coaching, sober companionship, breathwork, and holistic wellbeing practices. She blends Eastern and Western approaches to help people rebuild their lives, and she’s passionate about breaking the stigma around addiction, relapse, and what recovery really looks like.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube. 

Useful organisations:  

The Prison Phoenix Trust - Supports prisoners and prison staff through the practice of yoga and meditation, helping to foster calm, resilience, and personal transformation within the criminal justice system.  

https://www.theppt.org.uk/ 

The Forward Trust – Offer substance misuse and mental health services to people in and leaving prison. As well as integrating wellness tools such as therapy, peer support, and education.  

https://www.forwardtrust.org.uk/ 

The Shannon Trust - Helps people in prison and after release to improve reading and communication skills through peer-led learning. 

https://www.shannontrust.org.uk/ 

Contact us:  

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.  

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok  

📧 Email: [email protected]  

✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF  

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in the Life After Prison studio Zak & Jules are joined by Frankie Stedman. Frankie was involved in a major drug conspiracy that led to a nine-year sentence—but since coming out, he’s turned things around. He now runs his own scaffolding business and goes into schools to share his story and help young people make better choices. 

Frank is also incredibly walking 200 MILES, from our HMP Styal HQ to our HMP Brixton HQ, to raise money for our charity and raise awareness of the power of National Prison Radio.

If you want to learn more and donate, click the link below!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/200-mile-walk?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube. 

Useful organisations:  

The Wise Group (NE and NW) Personal wellbeing – Comprehensive support for individuals serving sentences and community-based justice work, focusing on mentoring, skills training, and job placements. (can ask to be referred to them if you’re on probation in these areas)  

https://www.thewisegroup.co.uk/ 

Disclosure toolkit, by Offploy - A toolkit combining precise legal guidance, personalised letter drafting, and trusted resources, to confidently handle disclosure.  

https://www.disclosuretoolkit.org/ 

Unlock – a charity offering peer‑run helpline, information, advice, and advocacy for people with criminal records navigating employment, disclosure, and discrimination. 

https://unlock.org.uk/ 

Contact us:  

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.  

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok  

📧 Email: [email protected]  

✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF  

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Life After Prison couch, Zak & Jules are joined by Jacob Dunne. At 19, Jacob was sentenced to prison for manslaughter after a one-punch attack that took a man’s life. What followed is a remarkable story of transformation. After meeting the parents of his victim through restorative justice, Jacob went on to earn a first-class honours degree in criminology and has since worked across education, health, criminal justice, and the arts. He is also the co-founder of the Common Ground Justice Project — an initiative engaging voters, victims and communities to build common ground for a safer, fairer justice system. His memoir Right From Wrong was recently adapted — with his creative input — into PUNCH, a critically acclaimed play heading to the West End and Broadway.  

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube. 

Useful organisations:  

Jacob’s Website - www.jacobdunne.co.uk 

Common Ground Justice Project - The project aims to engage diverse voices to uncover shared values and develop a modern justice system that garners broad public support 

https://www.commongroundjustice.uk/ 

3Pillars Project - This sports-based mentoring charity helps ex-offenders build a life away from crime and make a positive contribution to society. They offer personal training qualifications to ex-offenders on release through 3Pillars Fitness, with potential employment opportunities with 3Pillars Wellbeing. 

The Forgiveness Project - Dedicated to exploring forgiveness and reconciliation through the sharing of personal narratives from both victims and perpetrators of crime and violence. 

https://www.theforgivenessproject.com/ 

The Longford Trust - Supporting young people leaving prison by funding their university education, providing one-to-one mentoring, and helping them rebuild their lives through its scholarship and employability programmes. 

https://www.longfordtrust.org/ 

Clean Break – Theatre company working with women affected by the criminal justice system. 

https://www.cleanbreak.org.uk/ 

Synergy Theatre Project – Works with current and former prisoners through theatre and the arts.  

https://www.synergytheatreproject.co.uk/ 

Contact us:  

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.  

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok  

📧 Email: [email protected]  

✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF  

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life After Prison will be back with you soon but while we are finalising series 9 in the studio, we thought that we'd share some episodes of another podcast here. It’s called Money Mondays and is made by our colleagues at the Prison Radio Association.

Going for a job interview can be a nerve-wracking experience at the best of times, but what about if you have a criminal record to contend with too?

On this episode Zak & Emma will be looking at how having a criminal record can impact on the job interview process. Zak shares his own experience with this and looks at practical ways to deal with the conversation when it arises. Emma goes through some more broad interview techniques to ensure you’re thoroughly prepared for the big day

USEFUL LINKS:

• Unlock - Do I need to disclose my conviction?
• Unlock - Disclosure Letter Example
• Unlock - Disclosure Calculator
• A Fairer Chance
• The STAR method
• Clean Slate
• Quids In Magazine
• Quids in - Job Readiness Quiz

If you would like to get in touch with Money Mondays and ask us a question, suggest a topic or start a conversation, you can E-mail us at...

📧: [email protected]

💬 DM us: @afterprisonpod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok

✉️ Write to us: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF

This episode is hosted by...

Zak - The award-winning co-presenter of NPRs 'Life After Prison' Podcast

Emma - Works for 'Clean Slate' & their money skills resource 'Quids In' - Who provide information and support to people on lower incomes

You can find out more about the work of the 'Prison Radio Association' and 'National Prison Radio' here:

https://prison.radio/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life After Prison will be back with you soon but while we are finalising series 9 in the studio, we thought that we'd share some episodes of another podcast here. It’s called Money Mondays and is made by our colleagues at the Prison Radio Association.

In this episode Zak & Emma are looking at CVs - What they are, why they are useful and how to create an effective one. It can be daunting putting a CV together, particularly if you might have large gaps due to stints in prison. Zak is here to tell you how he navigated this and Emma has some general tips on how to make your CV stand out and what to include on there.

USEFUL LINKS:

• Clean Slate
• Quids In Magazine
• Unlock - CV Gaps
• Unlock - Disclosure
• Quids in - Job Readiness Quiz
• CV Example
• CV Writing Tips
• 
  

If you would like to get in touch with Money Mondays and ask us a question, suggest a topic or start a conversation, you can E-mail us at...

📧: [email protected]

💬 DM us: @afterprisonpod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok

✉️ Write to us: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF

This episode is hosted by...

Zak - The award-winning co-presenter of NPRs 'Life After Prison' Podcast

Emma - Works for 'Clean Slate' & their money skills resource 'Quids In' - Who provide information and support to people on lower incomes

You can find out more about the work of the 'Prison Radio Association' and 'National Prison Radio' here:

https://prison.radio/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Jules chats to another Jules (not confusing at all!), who is very close to becoming a qualified Solicitor. Jules is planning on supporting and being an advocate for people going through the criminal justice system. Having served a community order herself, Jules has experience with the CJS and knows the impact having a criminal record can have on your career and on your self-worth. Jules also talks about her difficult upbringing in Africa, and the culture shocks she found when moving to the UK. With a lot of support from some incredible organisations listed below, and with a huge amount of determination and will power, Jules is well on track to achieving her childhood ambition.  

Useful links and organisations: 

Disclosure toolkit, by Offploy - A toolkit combining precise legal guidance, personalised letter drafting, and trusted resources, to confidently handle disclosure.  https://www.disclosuretoolkit.org/ 

Mind- Making sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone https://www.mind.org.uk/ 

Working Chance- Unlocking Women’s Potential https://workingchance.org/ 

Unlock- Building a fairer future for people with criminal records https://unlock.org.uk/ 

Clean Sheet- Our work is about helping people with convictions to find jobs, start to rebuild their lives and as a result, reduce reoffending https://www.cleansheet.org.uk/  

Contact us: 

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us. 

💬 DM us: @afterprisonpod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok 

📧 Email us: [email protected] 

✉️ Write to us: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF 

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Life After Prison, Zak & Jules sit down with Jumpin Jack Frost, one of the UK’s most iconic jungle and drum & bass DJs. From growing up in Brixton to shaping the UK rave scene, Frost shares his journey through music, life’s challenges, and personal growth. We talk about his legendary tracks, the evolution of UK electronic music, and the lessons he’s learned along the way – including the importance of mental health, resilience, and self-transformation.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.

Useful organisations:

We Are Hummingbird - A non-profit organization that focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, particularly within the music industry.

https://www.wearehummingbird.com/

Boys Get Sad Too - A mental health awareness brand that uses fashion to challenge stigma and encourage open conversations—especially among men.

boysgetsadtoo.com

We Are With You – Offers support for people with substance misuse issues and mental health struggles. They provide tailored support and treatment for people looking to recover and lead a healthier life.

wearewithyou.org.uk

Mind – a leading mental health charity in the UK. They provide information, support, and resources for anyone experiencing mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, addiction, and recovery from trauma.

mind.org.uk

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok

📧 Email: [email protected]

✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Jules speaks to sisters, Kemi and Tasha, who founded the organisation Reformed Development, after experiencing four years of rejection and discrimination after coming out of prison. They realised the only way forward was to be the change themselves, and they now work tirelessly helping other people who have been to prison, with their holistic and nurturing approach to rehabilitation. 

The full version of this episode can be found wherever you get your podcasts: (link) 

Useful links and organisations: 

Reformed Development CIC- Educate- Relate- Inspire https://www.reformed16.com/  

Mind- making sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone https://www.mind.org.uk/ 

Prison Reform Trust- We’re working to create a just, humane & effective prison system 

https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/  

Contact us: 

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us. 

💬 DM us: @afterprisonpod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok 

📧 Email us: [email protected] 

✉️ Write to us: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF 

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Life After Prison, Zak & Jules discuss the final report on the Sentencing Review that was released last month. They delve into topics surrounding early release, £700 million investment into probation services and community-based sentencing.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube. 

Useful organisations:

Kate Fraser episode discussing Women's prisons - https://youtu.be/0T7b7V3ySFo

Women in Prison (London, Manchester & Woking) – Support and advocacy for women affected by the criminal justice system. Strong stance on short sentences and family impact. https://womeninprison.org.uk

Transform Justice (National) – Campaigning for fairer, more effective justice—particularly around sentencing, early intervention, and alternatives to prison.

https://transformjustice.org.uk

Revolving Doors (National) – Works with people who cycle in and out of prison—strong policy work on sentencing and short custodial sentences.

https://revolving-doors.org.uk

Centre for Justice Innovation (London) – Improving justice policy and practice—supporters of community alternatives, problem-solving courts, and diversion.

https://justiceinnovation.org

Prison Reform Trust (National) – Independent research and advocacy on reducing imprisonment, especially for women and vulnerable people.

https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk

Howard League for Penal Reform (National) – Ending the overuse of prison, especially for children and people on short sentences. Strong legal and campaigning work.

https://howardleague.org

User Voice (National) – Giving people in prison and on probation a voice in reform. Peer-led.

https://uservoice.org

Switchback (London and the South East) – Intensive rehabilitation and real-world transition for young men leaving prison.

https://switchback.org.uk

Community Led Initiatives (CLI) (Manchester, Bedfordshire, Kent) – Peer mentoring and community-led support for people leaving prison or at risk of entering it.

https://communityled.org.uk

Catch22 (National) – Resettlement, education, and alternatives to custody—works with prisons and probation services.

https://catch-22.org.uk

https://www.disclosuretoolkit.org/calculator

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok

📧 Email: [email protected]

✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Jules talks to Kate, who works for NHS England as the Regional Head of Health and Justice in the East of England. For 11 years, Kate struggled with a heroin addiction. Kate now holds keys to several prisons, and was even the prison substance misuse commissioner in the prison where she once spent time inside. Kate talks to Jules about the incredible work she does helping people, her career progression, and how she managed to turn her life around. 

The full version of this episode can be found wherever you get your podcasts: (link) 

Useful organisations: 

NHS Reconnect - Heathcare After Custody https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/reconnect-care/

Change Grow Live- Find information and local support services for alcohol and drug use. changegrowlive.org 

Narcotics Anonymous- Support for anyone who wants to stop using drugs.u kna.org 

Turning Point- We believe that everyone has the potential to grow, learn, and make choices. 

 turning-point.co.uk 

FRANK- Helpline for anyone concerned about drug or solvent misuse. Advice and information for drug misusers, their families, friends, carers and professionals. https://www.talktofrank.com/ 

Rehab 4 Addiction - A helpline for those suffering with drug and alcohol addiction. https://www.rehab4addiction.co.uk/  

Contact us: 

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us. 

💬 DM us: @afterprisonpod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok 

📧 Email us: [email protected] 

✉️ Write to us: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF 

🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.