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An article written by our Producer Faye Dunn for Inside Time February edition – the national newspaper for people in prison.
One of the hardest things about prison isn’t the walls, the routines, or even the time itself. It’s the distance. The quiet gap that opens up between you and the people you love. Birthdays missed. Voices you don’t hear often enough. The feeling that life on the outside is moving on without you.
That’s where The Family and Friends Request Show comes in.
The show is part of National Prison Radio and it does something very simple, but very powerful, it keeps people connected through music and messages.
People inside can send a message to someone they love by calling our freephone number. It’s free to call, and you can dedicate a song and a few words to someone on the outside. Loved ones outside prison can send messages in too by visiting https://prison.radio/national-prison-radio/#songrequest and filling out the message request form.
The show broadcasts on National Prison Radio on Thursdays every week between 1 and 3pm, and is repeated on Saturdays. It is also available at www.mixcloud.com/nationalprisonradio on a Thursday from 1pm. That means people inside and outside prison can listen at the same time, sharing the same songs, the same messages, the same moment. In a system that often separates, that shared experience matters more than people might realise.
For two hours, those walls feel a little lower.
I know this because I’ve lived it.
Before becoming the producer of The Family and Friends Request show, I was serving a prison sentence at HMP Styal and I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact the show had on people living in prison. When your world has shrunk, hearing someone say “I love you” or even a quick ‘Hello’’ on the radio can steady you in a way nothing else quite does.
That understanding shapes how the show is made today.
This isn’t just radio – it’s connection, responsibility, and trust.
The Family and Friends Request Show exists because relationships matter. Whether you’re inside listening from your cell, or outside listening from your kitchen, a car, or a living room, the show is a reminder that you’re not alone – and that someone is thinking of you.
If you’ve never sent a message before, I’d encourage you to do it. If you listen every week, thank you for making the show what it is.
National Prison Radio is the world’s first national radio station for people in prison. It’s run by the Prison Radio Association, a charity based behind the walls of HMP Brixton and HMP Styal. It broadcasts 24 hours a day on in-cell TV and on Launchpad in prisons across England and Wales.
Watch our short film, all about the power of The Family and Friends Request Show:
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