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Behind the success of the Prison Radio Association is our dedicated, hardworking staff team who make the world of prison radio in England and Wales tick. Here, we get to know them and spotlight their experience of working for the Prison Radio Association.
Tim is Director of Development – he oversees all income generation for the Prison Radio Association. This includes commercial partnerships and grant income and he’s also responsible for the charity’s evaluation processes. He is part of the senior management team. Here is what he has to say about life at the Prison Radio Association:
How long have you been working at the Prison Radio Association? What were you doing before?
I’ve been at the Prison Radio Association for six and a half years. Before that, I was the Head of Development for a criminal justice charity called Only Connect for four years. During my time at Only Connect, I did a Masters degree in Criminology. I’ve worked in charity fundraising for nearly 15 years now.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
I have a few different responsibilities at the Prison Radio Association. I manage the Development Team, a group of five people with a range of work priorities. These include fundraising, impact measurement, understanding what our audience is saying about us and developing new ideas for content. Some of each day is spent supporting the team across those different areas. That means lots of meetings, calls, emails and Slack conversations, looking at funding applications, reading reports, developing budgets, helping with designing surveys…
In addition, I manage all of the Prison Radio Association’s external partnerships. We work with a range of partners, including His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, The Shannon Trust, The National Literacy Trust, NHS England and many more. There is usually something every day that needs my attention.
Finally, I’m part of the Prison Radio Association’s senior team, so quite often there are things outside of partnerships and the Development Team that I’m involved in. These tend to be longer-term challenges or opportunities that need addressing.
In summary, I spend pretty much every day in meetings!
What is the best thing about working at the Prison Radio Association?
The thing that attracted me to the Prison Radio Association was an incredibly innovative solution (radio broadcasting) to a complex problem (an inability to communicate information to people in prison). I also like the fact that we’re a charity that delivers something that is very high-quality – check out our laundry list of awards from the radio and podcast industry as proof. I feel very proud that we are really good at what we do, and that it has a positive impact.
That being said, the very best thing about working at the Prison Radio Association is the people. The team is great, everyone is good at what they do and passionate about making the Prison Radio Association as impactful as possible. It’s a great place to work.
What is something you wish everybody understood about the realities of working in prison?
That it’s an extremely complicated environment, with lots of different organisations working together to support people, many of whom are trying to overcome a range of complex needs.
What is your favourite podcast or radio show currently?
I’m a bit of a sport nerd, so I’ve been really enjoying ‘It Is What It Was’ – a football history podcast, where each episode looks at a key events in football history. It’s a bit like the Rest Is History but purely for football. The recent episode on Aston Villa’s European Cup triumph in 1982 is particularly good.
What is the song that you would use to sum up your time working at the Prison Radio Association?
This has nothing to do with the Prison Radio Association, or my life particularly, but one of my all-time favourite songs is ‘Pounding’ by a band from Manchester called Doves. Euphoric and melancholic. It’s also about seizing the moment which isn’t a bad message to reminded of. I never get bored of listening to it.
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The Prison Radio Association is a registered charity. Our programmes and help people to cope with life inside prison and thrive on release. If you would like to support our work, and enhance the futures of people in prison across the UK you can make a donation at prison.radio/donate.