Working with National Prison Radio to provide new opportunities for Novus learners

National Prison Radio (NPR) were funded to make a 6-part radio series called ‘Windrush Stories’ focusing on the experiences of the Windrush generation and their descendants. Transform radio, a learning and work environment taught, managed, and produced through Novus and HMP Stoke Heath have an excellent working relationship with NPR and as a result, HMP Stoke Heath was one of only a handful of prisons chosen to participate.  

Windrush stories

The Novus radio teacher at HMP Stoke Heath, arranged for NPR and their guest producer to attend a 2-day workshop. The creative writing workshops were hosted by producer, rapper, educator and Windrush descendant James Batchelor, accompanied by Arthur, Head of Content at NPR. A number of learners were asked to join the workshops and participants were empowered to celebrate their own Windrush heritage through rap, creative writing and interviews. 

It was a fantastic couple of days, full of sharing, understanding, and enlightenment. All learners who participated contributed exceptionally well, and were engaged, motivated and encouraging of each other, resulting in outstanding content being created. They shared personal and emotional stories from their families and backgrounds and taught each other about themselves as individuals and their culture and history. 

All of the learners represented Novus and HMP Stoke Heath incredibly well, and the feedback from the visitors was very positive about the group’s knowledge and understanding of their history, knowledge and presentation.  

The recordings from the workshops were broadcast on Transform Radio and NPR on the lead up to National Windrush Day and on the 22nd of June there were special broadcasts to commemorate the day. HMP Stoke Heath also featured in their own episode on NPR as well as a combined episode with other prisons. 

Since the event, Transform has been asked by NPR to record further content and the team have been working incredibly hard producing content, jingles, adverts and further shows for Transform radio and NPR to share the Windrush celebration across prisons.  

Our Novus team has taken this a step further to encourage and share the knowledge, experiences, and understanding of the history, culture, lifestyle, and principles of Caribbean living. Novus and Transform radio are continuing to create content over the coming months, up to and including Black History Month, and will be celebrating the diverse values of the Caribbean. This will be represented through podcasts, audiobooks, music, and cooking, where learners will create, record, and produce different content, and residents will be given the opportunity to participate and enter competitions.   

Thanks to the collaborative relationship between NPR and HMP Stoke Heath, learners at the prison had the opportunity to take part in a new project that brought learners together, sharing their different experiences and cultures. Projects like this are extremely important as they give learners the chance to learn about other cultures and communities, which helps to build tolerance and a deeper understanding of others, which can be utilised upon release.  

To find out more about how we engage learners in different projects and initiatives that will positively impact their successful rehabilitation, take a look at the news section.