Six people who were in prison and now work in radio | Ali, Jules, Nico, Garth, Faye ... plus Paula

The Secret Life of Prisons podcast

The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.

This week we are participating in The Big Give, a national fundraising campaign.

So in this week's show, we wanted to introduce you to five people who went to prison and now all have careers in broadcasting, thanks to their work with the Prison Radio Association.

Ali Ali is National Prison Radio's breakfast show host and the winner of a silver award at the 2024 ARIAS in the Best New Voice category.

Jules Rowan is one of the multi award-winning hosts of Life After Prison, our podcast for people who have been released from prison.

Nico Constantinou was in prison this time last year, where he learned about radio production. After he was released he took part in our Outside In traineeship and is now working at BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Garth St Clair is the founder of Rise Maximum Radio, which broadcasts from Arouca Maximum Security Prison near Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobage.

The Fantastic Faye Dunn was in Styal prison near Manchester in November 2022 when she was approached by the National Prison Radio team to take part in a programme. Since then she's worked incredibly hard to develop her skills and has impressed the team so much that she now works full-time for the charity on a range of shows, including being the Assistant Producer of this podcast!

If you donate to us before Tuesday 10 December, your donation will be doubled! To make a donation, go to prison.radio/biggive.

Presenters: Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock

Producer: Andrew Wilkie Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn

Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760