Arts, Culture & Heritage Community & Social Justice 2024
Prison Radio Association

Prison Radio Association Impact Report 2024

The Prison Radio Association (PRA) runs National Prison Radio, the world's first national radio station for people in prison, reaching up to 80,000 prisoners across England and Wales 24 hours a day. Founded with the launch of Radio Feltham to reduce self-harm and suicide among young men in prison, PRA now delivers a portfolio of activity including in-prison radio training, the Life After Prison podcast, a post-release talent development programme, Prison Radio International (56 projects across 24 countries), and BBC co-productions. More than 20% of PRA staff have prison experience. In 2024, PRA won 6 awards including Gold at the ARIAS — the Oscars of the radio industry. The Life After Prison podcast has been engaged with online over 8 million times.

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📋About

National Prison Radio (world's first national prison radio station); radio production and presenting training for serving prisoners; talent development programme for post-release employment; Life After Prison podcast (UK's first podcast by and for prison leavers); Prison Radio International global network; BBC co-productions; Connection service enabling families to send messages for broadcast; Free Flow specialist music show hosted by Lady Unchained Custom geography from upload: England and Wales (Global via Prison Radio International)

📊Key Metrics

National Prison Radio reaches up to 80,000 people in prison across England and Wales, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — with 28 prisoners trained in radio production at HMP Brixton and HMP Styal Key Metric 1
205 days of paid employment in production and presenting roles offered to 8 people recently released from prison through the talent development programme Key Metric 2
267,580 podcast listens across PRA's suite of podcasts in 12 months; Prison Radio International network spans 56 radio projects across 24 countries Key Metric 3

✅Key Outcomes

  • 92% of Life After Prison podcast listeners say it increases their awareness of available support services, 86% say it makes them feel motivated to make positive changes in their lives, and 77% have taken positive action after being inspired by something they heard — demonstrating sustained behaviour change post-release
  • 28 serving prisoners received one-to-one radio production training in 2023-24, with 8 recent prison leavers offered 205 days of paid professional employment through the talent development programme — providing a rare bridge between in-prison skill development and genuine post-release employment in the creative industries
  • Prison Radio International expanded to 56 radio projects across 24 countries, with PRA winning 6 awards at the 2024 UK Audio and Radio Industry Awards (ARIAS) including Gold, and Life After Prison having been engaged with online over 8 million times since its 2022 launch

📍Geography

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