500 prison officers: House of Lords event

It was an exciting day as Unlocked headed to the House of Lords on Thursday 28th October. Celebrating the milestone of 500 prison officers placed in 30 prisons in the last five years.

A big thank you to Lord McNally for hosting this event. It felt very special to have the chance to see nearly one hundred prison officers gathering in the House of Lords, and we were delighted and honoured to see the Unlocked participants and ambassadors acknowledged in this way. We particularly appreciated the new Minister James Cartlidge taking the time to speak briefly alongside our two brilliant Unlocked participants Taylor and Jakub, and CEO and founder Natasha Porter. It was brilliant to see people from across the sector as well as our partners and supporters to gather alongside parliamentarians like Sir Bob Neill MP, Chair of the Justice Select Committee, to celebrate.

“I joined this job because I wanted to support vulnerable individuals through difficult times. Namely men. Men who strut around the landings like they own the place but cry themselves to sleep when the cell doors are shut.”

Jakub, Unlocked Graduates 2020 cohort pic.twitter.com/gKQ21ZbjQ5

— Unlocked Graduates (@unlockedgrads) October 29, 2021

Thank you so much to everyone who came to @unlockedgrads event today.
Particular big thank you to Lord McNally for hosting the event, also @jc4southsuffolk for his speech and @neill_bob.
Such a treat to have such a great guest list to celebrate placing our 500th officer!

— Natasha Porter OBE (@NPorter_) October 28, 2021