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.
Sarah is our Research and Evaluation Manager, she oversees the day-to-day evaluation of our charity’s impact, focusing on all aspects of the Prison Radio Association’s work. Sarah’s role is key to articulating the work that we do and through her research and evaluation she understands the needs of our National Prison Radio listeners. Here is what she 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 have been at the Prison Radio Association for 2 years. Before this I was working as a Data Analyst analysing school exam results but my heart was never really in it! I then started working for the Prison Radio Association and now I still get to geek out with my spreadsheets but also work for this amazing charity.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
My days are so varied, which is one thing I love about working at the Prison Radio Association. One day I’m writing a survey or staring at a spreadsheet analysing data to provide statistics to our funders or other team members. Then the next day I’m on a 6am train travelling up north to spend the day on prison wings conducting surveys. Other parts of my job include tracking our social media engagement and also doing exit interviews with the men and women who work on the radio station, looking at the impact working on National Prison Radio has. Basically I spend most of my time finding out how much people love National Prison Radio and the podcasts, which is a lovely job to have!
What is the best thing about working at the Prison Radio Association?
The real impact that what we do has on people. Because my role involves surveying those who listen and work on the radio I get to hear first hand the difference it really makes to people’s lives and I never fail to be amazed by what people say. How cool, and what a privilege, it is to work somewhere where we get to do that?!
What is something you wish everybody understood about the realities of working in prison?
What is your favourite podcast or radio show currently?
Obviously the one and only ‘Life After Prison’! The recent episode with Kate Fraser is excellent. She explains so well the challenges women face in prison and how what they experience is so different to men, and also the changes that she would like to see in the future.
What is the song that you would use to sum up your time working at the Prison Radio Association?
This is a tough one. I’m not sure I can think of one song to sum up my time at the Prison Radio Association but I love a motivational song and recently I’ve been listening to ‘Broken & Beautiful’ by Kelly Clarkson a lot. It’s such a lovely uplifting song that actually is really aligned with the Prison Radio Association. It speaks about how people can do anything regardless of things that have happened to them which is a message people always say they take away from listening to National Prison Radio. Pretty sure it’s from a children’s film but we’ll ignore that!
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National Prison Radio is the world’s first national radio station for people in prison. It’s available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on in-cell TV.
National Prison Radio was founded by the Prison Radio Association – a registered charity. Our shows 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.
