Life After Prison

This week on Life After Prison, Jules is joined by Tim Haigh.

Growing up around poverty, instability and trauma, he found himself caught up in crime from a young age. As a teenager, he was sentenced to nearly ten years in prison, and after his release became trapped in a cycle of addiction, offending and destructive choices that affected every part of his life.

He lost friends, spent years battling heroin addiction, and reached a point where he knew something had to change.

Instead of becoming another statistic, he made the decision to rebuild.

Today, he’s been clean for more than two decades, works with young people, prisons and communities, and has written a book called The Leopard That Changed His Spots, sharing the lessons from a journey that took him from prison and addiction to a life of purpose.

Organisations:
Lived Experience Speakers - Uses real-life stories and lived experience to educate, inspire, and empower young people, helping them make positive choices and avoid crime, gangs, and exploitation. The organisation delivers workshops in schools, prisons, colleges, and community settings, focusing on prevention, rehabilitation, and personal development.

Switchback - Support young men leaving prison to build stable, meaningful lives through intensive one-to-one mentoring, employment support, and personal development.

Aspire2Change – They work with young people and adults at risk of offending or reoffending, offering mentoring, education, and skills training. Their focus is on building confidence, resilience, and opportunities to support positive life choices and reduce involvement in crime.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok
📧 Email: podcasts@prison.radio
✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest has a story like no other. Growing up in the 70s, facing racism and rejection, he soon became involved in organised crime and serving years inside.

After decades trapped in a cycle of crime and prison, everything changed during his final sentence, when a theatre company cast him in a production that would completely transform the direction of his life.

Now 20 years on, he’s remained crime free, using creativity, storytelling, and lived experience to inspire others and encourage change both inside and outside the prison system.

Oraginsations

Synegry Theatre - work with people affected by the criminal justice system, using theatre and the arts to support rehabilitation, build skills, and create pathways into education and employment. They delivers workshops, training, and professional productions both in prisons and in the community.

Prison reform trust ‘Building Futures program’ - supporting people serving long prison sentences by giving them a voice in shaping prison policy and rehabilitation. The project focuses on leadership, hope, self-advocacy, and preparing people for life beyond prison.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok
📧 Email: podcasts@prison.radio
✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Life After Prison, we explore a story that doesn’t follow a straight line — because real change rarely does.

Donell, a successful contractor & former prisoner, shares the highs, setbacks, and hard truths of life after release, while Jeffrey, a prison coach, reflects on the turning point that changed his own path and led him to work with young people in custody.

The two met at Cookham Wood, where honest, in-depth coaching built a powerful connection — one that was tested by setbacks, including a return to prison and homelessness.

They reflect on what changed the second time around, and why some people break the cycle while others don’t.

This episode of Life After Prison accompanies the launch of a short film from Spark Inside focused on Donell's remarkable journey.

Watch here: https://www.sparkinside.org/news/donells-story-how-coaching-unlocked-his-hero-within-5

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.

Useful Organisations:

Kings Trust – support young people to get into work, education, or training, especially those facing disadvantages or barriers like unemployment or a history with the justice system. Offering mentoring, courses, and funding to help build confidence and create new opportunities.

Spark Inside - deliver coaching programmes in prisons, helping young people develop confidence, emotional intelligence, and a sense of purpose. Their work focuses on supporting long-term personal change and better outcomes after release.

Contact us:
If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok
📧 Email: podcasts@prison.radio
✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is the definition of transformation. At the age of 11 he was groomed into county lines, by 12 he was regularly carrying firearms and by 15 he’d already seen the inside of a prison cell. The following years were a mix of serving time as a teenager, along with physical and mental trauma.

Once labelled a criminal, he’s now recognised as a survivor of child criminal exploitation and modern slavery, becoming one of the voices leading the change. You can find him speaking in Parliament, contributing at the United Nations, and influencing national policy on exploitation and justice.

Useful Organisations:

Open University - offers flexible, distance learning courses that can be studied in prison or after release, helping people continue their education and build new career paths.

Mind - provide advice, support, and services for people experiencing mental health challenges. It offers helplines, local services, and resources to help individuals understand their mental health and access the right support.

Unique Talent - Our mission is to break the cycle of offending, gang involvement, and serious youth violence by providing mentorship, education, and life-changing opportunities.
https://uniquetalent.org.uk/
Human Trafficking Foundation - Bring together statutory and non-statutory organisations working to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery, sharing knowledge to support informed and effective action.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok
📧 Email: podcasts@prison.radio
✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on Life After Prison, we’re joined by filmmaker Daisy-May Hudson.

In 2013, Daisy-May was living in a hostel with her mum and sister — a reality she didn’t fully recognise as homelessness at the time.

At that young age she decided to pick up a camera and document it, a decision that would change everything. Her story went viral, leading to her documentary Halfway, which she crowdfunded and took to cinemas.

Now a BAFTA Breakthrough talent, her work — including feature film Lollipop — focuses on storytelling, healing, and lived experience, particularly around prison and homelessness.

This podcast is also available as a video – just search Life After Prison on YouTube.

Organisations:
Clean Break - Support women affected by the criminal justice system through training and performance, helping them build confidence and pathways into creative industries.
Reclaim The Frame - Directly support women into film through development programmes, training, and showcasing work by women directors.
Daddyless Daughters - support girls and young women who have been affected by family breakdown, abuse and adversity across London between the age of 14 - 30 years old. Supporting them to go on to build and sustain healthy relationships and lifestyles in aid of preventing criminal and sexual exploitation.
Birth Companions – Provides support for pregnant women and mothers in prison, including help with resettlement and parenting.
Petition for the Holloway Centre - https://levelup.movement-action.org/p/islington-council-finish-holloway-womens-centre
Daisy-May's first feature film Lollipop - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pvjy

Contact us:

If anything you’ve heard in this podcast has inspired you to make a positive change in your life, or you’d just like to get in touch, please contact us.

💬 Socials: @afterprisonpod on Instagram and X, @lifeafterprison on TikTok
📧 Email: podcasts@prison.radio
✉️ Write: Life After Prison, National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
🖥️ Website: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.