We launch Things Done Well with an interview with Natasha Porter OBE. Having helped set up King Solomon Academy, a transformational London school, she was part of the Coates Review into education in prisons. Based on a recommendation from the review, she created Unlocked Graduates. Over a decade, the charity has placed over 900 prison officers, trained custodial managers, and is now helping to run better prison wings.
Natasha explains what’s wrong with prisons and how we can improve them. She describes how Vanguard Wings in tough London prisons have cut violence in half. She also reflects on how you launch a startup dependent on government, and explains why government procurement rules and inflexibility mean Unlocked will be closing this month.
We discuss:
What differentiates a good wing, and a good prison officer, from a bad one
How the Brexit campaign supercharged Unlocked’s launch
Being told it would take two years to get started - and doing it in eight months
How Unlocked refined its approach to training and support to dramatically increase retention
How Natasha’s experience of effective schools influenced her approach to prisons
The small changes in Vanguard Wings which have cut violence in half
How government procurement rules made it impossible for Unlocked to keep going
