Spark Inside runs coaching programmes in prisons across London and the South East, to encourage rehabilitation and reduce reoffending.
The Conversation is our systems coaching programme that brings together large groups of prison staff and prisoners in a facilitated group coaching process to enhance their relationships, improve empathy, and support sustained, positive cultural change on prison wings.
Hero’s Journey is our structured life coaching programme for young people aged 15-25, in prison and through-the-gates, building their motivation to change, decreasing in-prison violence and creating a pro-social identity away from crime to reduce reoffending.
Our expert coaches are qualified and trained professionals.
SYSTEMS COACHING
• The Conversation focuses on creating systemic change in prison, where large groups of prison
staff and prisoners build a safer, more rehabilitative prison environment.
• A safe and decent prison environment provides the foundation for people in prison to turn their
lives around, making them less likely to reoffend.
• Through large group workshops facilitated by our specialist systems coaches, The Conversation
promotes positive interactions between prisoners and prison staff.
• It has been proven to improve their empathy, understanding, and ultimately, their relationship and
wing culture.
• It gives all people living and working on a prison wing a voice.
• Prisoners and prison staff decide what issues they want to prioritise and commit to solving them
together during the workshops, ending with tangible actions that they can implement.
• It creates the space for open and honest conversations about how daily life can improve for
everyone living and working on the wing, and collaboration around ideas to make change happen.
• It also helps to improve the wellbeing and job satisfaction of prison staff, for them to become
more efficient and effective.
LIFE COACHING
• Hero’s Journey programme for 15-to-25-year-old boys and men builds their motivation to create a
positive future-self, away from crime. It reduces in-prison violence, and reoffending post release.
• It is a structured life coaching programme consisting of group workshops for up to 8 young
people, followed by one-to-one coaching sessions.
• The coaching sessions can start in prison and can continue in their community, on their release
through the gates.
• Using steps on the Hero’s Journey model, young men in prison navigate their personal cycle of
change, and create a pro-social identity away from crime.
• It has been proven to improve vital life skills, such as confidence, decision-making, problemsolving,
resilience and empathy, as well as their wellbeing and outlook on the future.
• Our life coaches don’t tell the young people what to do. The young people are empowered to make
different choices for themselves.
• The individualised nature of life coaching allows for each person to receive tailored sessions, so
that they can access the tools they need to change their life.
• On finishing the programme, young people leaving custody have developed a skillset and
motivation to create a crime-free future.