Spark Inside

What a wonderful week of welcomes 💗 HMP Ranby has just got a bit more Spark Inside - congratulations to Lianne, one of our fantastic new coaches, who delivered her first Hero's Journey workshop session there this week alongside Nicky. We've also welcomed a new Service Delivery Manager, Joe, who will be driving our programmes across HMP Ranby and Moorland. He joined us down in the big smoke this week and joined colleagues at HMP High Down. Happy to have you with us, Joe 🌟 It's so exciting to see the team on the ground up North growing and on a roll 🌱 Here's to new beginnings!

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝. Our Board Fellows Programme is designed as an emerging leaders’ opportunity for people aged 18-30, combining meaningful participation in governance with structured professional development. Successful applicants will gain hands-on experience of sitting on a charity's board, alongside mentorship from a current Spark Inside trustee and up to four sessions with a professional coach. We particularly encourage applications from people from underrepresented backgrounds, including those with lived experience of the criminal justice system; and people from Black and minoritised backgrounds. The closing date for applications is 9:00 Monday 8 June; find more details on how to apply on the 'We're Hiring' section of our website. Please do share amongst your networks - we can't wait to hear from interested applicants! #charityleadership #charityboard #inclusivegovernance #leadership #mentorship #personaldevelopment #trustees #trustee #governance #charitygovernance #onboard

What 👏 a 🤸‍♀️ DAY! 🤩 We are absolutely BUZZING after an incredible afternoon with @zakarriyahkhalil7 and @juleshrowan on the Life After Prison couch! Donell (@dplumbed ) opened up about his journey into, through, and after prison, and how the trust and consistency of coach Jeffrey Wotherspoon - who he first met aged just 16 inside - has supported him to flourish. Their story is so incredibly moving, and we can't wait for you all to hear this episode - out in two week's time 👀 And as if that's not enough - this podcast will coincide with our launch of a beautiful short film about Donell, where you'll be able to see another view of this powerful story of growth, resilience and transformation. Donell and Jeffrey - you smashed it 👏👏 so inspired by you both 🤩

A big thank you to our fantastic coaches Luke and Steve, and our Service Delivery Manager, Connie, who have delivered three Hero's Journey workshops at HMP Coldingley this month. They've just created space for a group of young men to think deeply about their life journey, their choices, hopes, and aspirations for the future. For a few hours a week, there's been a chance for these guys to feel seen, listened to, and vulnerable with each other. That can be a rare thing in life, let alone in prison. Steve shared some beautiful reflections on our website recently, highlighting how "sometimes success is simply a young person feeling they’ve had someone’s undivided attention for an hour... That’s not a small thing. It’s the foundation for building self-esteem and self-efficacy, and it can open doors to change that didn’t feel possible before. " 🌟 Read the full piece on our website.

Behind every statistic on reoffending is a person navigating what comes next. Hope changes outcomes. It shapes decisions, builds resilience, and helps people move away from crime. At Spark Inside, we see every day how nurturing hope through coaching can shift mindsets and behaviours. Evidence shows that supporting people to imagine — and believe in — a different future is key to lasting change in the justice system. Read our new blog on the science of hope on our website.

Thank you to @theforwardtrust for inviting Spark Inside to your Dragon's Den-style event in collaboration with the @financialtimes . Two members of our Champions group, Javel and Isaac, attended alongside our Participation and Engagement Manager Cecilia. Isaac shared: "It was a great opportunity to network with directors, the dragons and other entrepreneurs. Many of the people present at the event were those with lived experience doing great things and it helped me to see how far I’ve come and just what’s possible. A great day that I felt privileged to be a part of.” A huge well done to all the talented participants who pitched their business ideas, and many congratulations to the winners! ✨

Might be biased but... we think our coaches are just INCREDIBLE 🌟 We're still absolutely buzzing after our coaches away day yesterday, where our team got to connect, reflect, and learn some new approaches to practice. Serious magic happens when that many brilliant people end up all in the same room 🪄 A huge thanks to Nina Bainbridge for facilitating the day beautifully, and Jason Moore and our Trustee Fionnuala Gordon for joining us to share their expertise on flexing energy and trauma-informed practice. It was a powerful moment when our CEO Vicki shared that an astounding 437 young people have been coached by us this year. In her words, it's quite something to think about the journey Spark Inside has been on since the first ever Hero's Journey, with about 6 young people at YOI Cookham Wood, to coaching enough in one year that they would fill every room of the beautiful building we were in. It's our mission to make coaching available to anyone that wants it in the justice system, so that every young person can unlock their full potential. A team of coaches as skilled, thoughtful, committed, and compassionate as this gets us closer to that goal. 🤸‍♀️ Our gratitude also goes to our funders @leathersellersco for the generous use of their space.

Exciting stuff in the works with @thisisycn 🔥 We can't wait to see these shots! 🌟

Our team have smashed it this quarter. 100 young men attended a Hero's Journey workshop between January and March alone this year. That's 100 young men challenged to build a brighter future for themselves, and offered access to tools and support to enable them to get there. This is a new record for us, and testament to the tenacity of our brilliant coaches and Service Delivery Managers. Prisons are challenging environments to work in, where creative solutions and grit are often needed to make sure these workshops happen. A huge well done to everyone - especially all these young people striving to make a change.

There is a step in every Hero's Journey called 'crossing the threshold'. This is when the hero in a story commits to their quest. It involves them leaving their comfort zone (or 'ordinary world) and entering the unknown. Along this path, they are tested, gain allies and foes, experience transformation, and ultimately, return rewarded and with something to give back. In each of our Hero's Journey programmes, our coaches challenge young men to cross the threshold. They get asked what they want to say yes to, and what they want to leave behind. These statements become a guiding commitment they can take with them when they leave the room, and something to focus on in their one-to-one sessions. Big up this young man making moves into his extraordinary world 👏 Find out more about our coaching programmes on our website, linked in our bio.

A big thank you to Tom McHale who joined our Champions meeting last week 👏 He shared his journey, challenges and insights on finding your feet after prison. The Spark Inside Champions are a group of young men who have participated in our coaching programmes and now meet regularly with our team and each other to shape our approach, share their experiences, and continue developing their own skills. About the meeting, Javel shared: "I think the time speaking to Tom went very well and was insightful. It was nice to see someone at a later stage in their life explain their story and struggles that aligned so much with our own stories. It was humbling to know that he also struggled and didn’t find things easy." Isaac shared: "I thought that it was nice to not only sit down with the other Champions and have a chance to check in with others who get what it feels like to be off tag. Also to have Tom come in and share his story with us gave me a different perspective on the criminal justice system process, but it also felt like there were so many parallels." We're grateful to Tom for giving so generously of himself and his time. 🌟

For the last year, Spark Inside have been proud to partner with @prisonreformtrust (PRT) on its Next Generation Leaders (Next Gen) programme, offering coaching to aspiring prison leaders aiming to push forward reform and improve outcomes for people in custody. PRT have now published their review of Next Gen, which highlights that ​“Leaders indicated that 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻." Participants have also shared immensely positive feedback direct to their coaches about how the one-to-one sessions benefitted them. Read more, and find the full review from PRT, by clicking 'News' at the link in our bio.