The Secret Life of Prisons24 Nov 2025

Inside a Drug Recovery Wing | Wayne Hickman and Ash

Drug Recovery Wings are specialist units in prisons that work to help people dealing with addictions as part of their prison sentences.

Ash is no stranger to imprisonment and has lived with addiction since he was a child. But a remarkable encounter transformed his life. He now works for Better Way Recovery, a charity based in Litchfield near Birmingham, as an Integrated Offender Manager Link Worker - and as part of his role he works with people battling addiction inside HMP Featherstone in Staffordshire.

Wayne Hickman is a substance misuse officer who runs the Drug Recovery Wing in HMP Featherstone, and through his passion for change and genuine compassion for those living on the wing he runs, the unit at Featherstone has been nationally recognised as the best in the country.

Presenters:

Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association

Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock

Producer: Andrew Wilkie

Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn

The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.

To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.

To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.

Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(124)

Live at Clinks Conference 2026 | Lord James Timpson and Anne Fox

As the Sentencing Act 2026 receives royal assent, Phil and Paula take to the stage at Conway Hall in London as part of the Clinks annual conference 2026.Lord James Timpson was Chief Executive of Timps...

2 Feb 47min

Waiting For The Out | Andy West and Ric Renton

Andy West teaches philosophy in prisons. His father and brother spent time behind bars and he wrote a memoir, The Life Inside, about his career in prisons which we featured in an episode back in May 2...

29 Des 202531min

Christmas Special: Louis Theroux Live at the Radio Festival

Every year the radio industry gathers for the Radio Festival in London. The event, run by a wonderful organisation called the Radio Academy, brings together radio professionals from across the country...

22 Des 202532min

Phil's mic drop

In 2006, Phil Maguire OBE left his job at the BBC to work in prisons. He joined a small group of committed, inspirational people to found a charity, the Prison Radio Association, which went on to tran...

19 Des 202546min

How the press reports crime | Beatrice Auty and Charlie Moloney

Beatrice Auty was released from prison last year and has since become a Longford Scholar, pursuing her academic interest in criminology. Before prison, Beatrice visited death row in the US and dreamt ...

15 Des 202539min

A gold award-winning episode of The Secret Life of Prisons

The Audio Production Awards take place every year to honour the very best in radio and podcast production in the UK. They're run by Audio UK, which represents audio producers, and are competed for by ...

8 Des 20251h

The Big Give 2025 | Faye Dunn and Toni Garrigos

If you would like to support the Prison Radio Association, visit prison.radio/biggive and your donation will be doubled!Faye Dunn and Toni Garrigos first met each other while serving sentences in HMP ...

1 Des 202536min