Radio Wanno employs trainees from the prison population, who work towards media qualifications whilst working to produce programmes for broadcast within the prison. Training is tailored to the needs of learners with a previously poor experience of education, and covers a range of skills, from digital editing to interview and presentation skills. However, it is often the “softer skills” which have the greatest transferable value to the learners. All the evidence shows that it seems to be a course that works well in this environment: To date, the pass-rates amongst the students in prison well exceed the national average.

Although some students have continued into media-based degree courses on release, for many of them the experience is more about helping people to find out who they really are, how they work under pressure, how they achieve a sense of self-worth, and how they communicate often complex ideas in a way that others can understand.

Students gain valuable work experience by working in Radio Wanno, and working as part of a production team enables them to develop self-confidence and assertiveness. The station output reflects the community it serves, acting as an audio billboard for offenders, prison officers, and the multitude of voluntary sector agencies that operate within the prison. It has also become a creative outlet for individuals with imagination and time on their hands, such as 32-year old Kris, whose radio drama series came to him whilst staring out of his cell window.

I used to watch the birds from my window and after a while I could pick out particular ones. I realised that they were all competing for food, sexual favours, and for space. So instead of writing specifically about life in here, I thought I’d showcase the activities of the pigeons- which in fact just reflect many of the things that people are up to inside here