Con air

Imagine a small room, no windows, institutional cream on the walls. Bare of all decoration except for a circle of cheap chairs and the most basic of recording equipment. A gathering of people squeeze into the space — three young men, a strained-looking couple, an official-looking woman with clipboard and notes, a man in jeans with an earpiece. There’s not much room for manoeuvre, or to opt out of what’s going on.

This is Prison Radio, an outreach scheme that began in HMP Feltham for young offenders in the early 1990s. Two radio producers wanted to do something about the high rates of self-harm, and of reoffending. Why not give prisoners the chance to learn new skills at the same time as providing them with a means to share experience, consolation, communication? It was a no-brainer. The scheme spread, and at Brixton high-security unit it has proved so successful that Electric Radio Brixton has been winning prizes every year at the Sony Radio Awards.