Natasha underlined the importance of providing the best training and support to those working in prisons, giving them the tools to drive rehabilitative change and improve outcomes for those in their care.
Read more here: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
"To build a prison system that promotes rehabilitation, staff must be at the heart of these efforts and we need to be recruiting, training and developing outstanding frontline leaders." - Natasha Porter OBE. CEO and Founder Unlocked Graduates
"It is prison officers who promote change in everyday interactions, encouraging prisoners to engage in education programmes, rebuild family connections and set positive goals to help reduce reoffending." - Natasha Porter OBE. CEO and Founder, Unlocked Graduates
Writing in @theguardian.com Guardian today, Unlocked's CEO and Founder @natashaporter.bsky.social highlighted the central role that prison officers play in driving change across the system, explaining that any efforts to reform our prisons require transformational leaders on the frontline.
At our Annual Conference in Birmingham last week, we were delighted to launch our 2025-2026 Impact Report, spotlighting some of our incredible achievements over the past 12 months. Find out more about another milestone year for Unlocked Graduates 👇
unlockedgrads.org.uk/news-item/un...
We were delighted to be joined by Jacob Dunne, an award-winning author and campaigner and the co-founder of the Common Ground Justice Project, as Unlocked's 2026 Annual Conference comes to a close!
#UnlockedConference
We are delighted to welcome frontline staff and colleagues from across the criminal justice system to Conference for a day of sessions and networking. Our Conference Marketplace is also an opportunity for delegates to find out more about some of our partner organisations across the sector.
Unlocked's 2026 Annual Conference is underway in Birmingham! This year, we are reflecting on 10 years of Unlocked Graduates, spotlighting the solutions that we know are driving real change in prisons.
Find out more about our evidence-based approach to recruiting, training and supporting outstanding frontline staff and improving retention of the best prison officers 👇
unlockedgrads.org.uk/news-item/in...
📈 To achieve long-term change, we need the best officers to stay for as long as possible, continuing to have an impact. If the system wants better retention, safer prisons and lower reoffending, the implication is clear: make this level of support the norm, not the exception.
For those that do leave the frontline, they are much more likely than peers to do so on promotion to related Ministry of Justice roles. Over 70% of those who have completed our programme continue to work in criminal justice roles connected to breaking cycles of reoffending.
This is also why, beyond two years when Unlocked support ends, retention of these officers reverts to being more in line with those recruited via the standard route. Independent research conducted by Oliver Wyman highlighted the cliff edge in support at the end of our programme.
The Unlocked programme shows that when staff are recruited based on values and have access to ongoing training, support and development, they are significantly more likely to stay. They can then continue to have an impact on the frontline, helping to break cycles of reoffending.
There are solutions that we know work which support frontline staff to thrive during their first few years in the service, not just survive. Our programme – and this new data – proves this is possible.
Leaving rates across the service remain incredibly high – in our partner prisons, almost half of all new prison officers leave before the two-year mark.
But this is not inevitable.
Being a prison officer is incredibly challenging. These public servants are asked to build relationships with some of the hardest to reach people while working in some of the toughest public sector environments.
📊 It shows retention for officers recruited through the Unlocked programme is 17 percentage points higher after two years than those who join the same prisons via the standard route. 76.2% of our participants were still operational at this point, compared to 59.2% of colleagues.
Independent data published by the Ministry of Justice today provides the strongest evidence to date that the Unlocked model significantly improves the retention of Band 3 prison officers.
Leading Prison Landings: The Unlocked Guide to Jailcraft is available now. Find out more 👇
unlockedgrads.org.uk/news-item/in...
This book codifies Unlocked’s uniquely successful model for developing outstanding prison leaders and ensures anyone can access the solutions that we know work, developed over nearly a decade on our award-winning graduate programme.
Leading Prison Landings: The Unlocked Guide to Jailcraft is a training manual for transformative relational practice in prisons, supporting frontline staff to radically improve outcomes for those in their care and ultimately help break cycles of reoffending.
Prison officers are working in some of the toughest public sector environments, building relationships with some of the hardest to reach people. They need and deserve high-quality training materials to take their development into their own hands and have the greatest impact.
This step-by-step guide for effective relational practice in prisons codifies Unlocked’s unique approach to developing outstanding prison officers and makes it available to anyone for the first time. Read more 👇
www.russellwebster.com/the-unlocked...
Natasha underlined the importance of giving prison officers access to high-quality training resources to support them to build transformative relationships with those in their care, ultimately improving outcomes and reducing reoffending.
Writing in @russellwebster.com's blog, Unlocked's CEO and Founder @natashaporter.bsky.social explained the role that our new book Leading Prison Landings: The Unlocked Guide to Jailcraft can play in supporting prison officers to improve their relational practice and have the greatest possible impact
This training manual enables staff to take their professional development into their own hands, supporting them to create a safer and more rehabilitative environment on the landings, ultimately improving outcomes and reducing reoffending. Find out more unlockedgrads.org.uk/news-item/in...
We are delighted that we can now share our uniquely successful model with anyone for the first time, ensuring all prison officers have access to the best development opportunities to improve their practice and build transformative relationships with those in their care.
They explained how this step-by-step guide for effective relational practice has the potential to transform training for a workforce that is so often forgotten, working with some of the hardest to reach people in some of the toughest public sector environments.
During the event, we heard from the co-authors of the book, @natashaporter.bsky.social and Harry Fletcher-Wood, as well as others including Jenny Louis - Governor of HMP Belmarsh - and Charlie Taylor - HM Chief Inspector of Prisons - who outlined the role this book could play in our prisons.
Last night, we celebrated the launch of our new book Leading Prison Landings: The Unlocked Guide to Jailcraft with colleagues, partners and supporters from across the criminal justice sector and beyond.
We look forward to launching the book with colleagues and partners from across the sector next month.
Buy your copy here: www.amazon.co.uk/Leading-Pris...
@rory-stewart.bsky.social
By making this resource available to all for the first time, our aim is to not only empower prison officers to take their development into their own hands, but to also provide a blueprint for other public sector staff to support some of the hardest to reach populations.