What Works: Driving Real Change in Prisons – Unlocked’s 2025 Conference

The Unlocked Conference is a highlight in the calendar every year. This March, we welcomed participants and Ambassadors of the Unlocked programme, other frontline staff, and colleagues from across the criminal justice sector to our 2025 event which focused on the solutions that we know are driving real change in prisons. We were delighted to be joined by some of the world’s leading criminal justice experts to share learnings about the evidence-led solutions that are inspiring change across the prison system, helping to break cycles of reoffending.

“Prison officers are the agents of change in our prisons”

One constant throughout the day’s sessions was just how vital the role of frontline staff is if we want to drive genuine rehabilitative change in our prisons. We are incredibly proud that Unlocked’s annual conference continues to provide operational prison staff with the opportunity to share best practice and learnings from the impactful solutions that they are seeing in their establishments.

We were therefore delighted to see so many of our participants and Ambassadors delivering sessions throughout the day and providing insight into their experiences of leading change on the landings. Unlocked 2024 participant Bradley delivered the opening address to this year’s conference, setting the scene for the rest of the day’s sessions. Focusing on the role that frontline staff can play, Bradley reminded delegates that “every act to understand can be a turning point in someone’s life”.  

“The frontline of prisons is where we most desperately need real change”

Highlighting the need for innovation on the frontline of prisons, Unlocked’s CEO and Founder Natasha Porter OBE introduced the day’s opening panel session with insights from Officer Devane and Dr. Jordan Hyatt from the Little Scandinavia Project in Pennsylvania. Little Scandinavia is an initiative which is embedding Swedish and Norwegian approaches to prisons and rehabilitation in a Pennsylvanian prison with a focus on changing cultures and reducing reoffending.

Prison reform is fighting for a society that’s safer but also fairer.

Natasha Porter OBE, CEO and Founder Unlocked Graduates

The panel discussed how they overcame some of the initial challenges they faced when starting this project and highlighted the significant impact that it is already having with the prisoners on the unit, with Officer Devane describing how the new approach is “helping [prisoners] meet their goals.” The project is demonstrating the impact that the relationships between prisoners and prison officers can have in driving positive change.

“Talking to your peers matters”

Dr. Hyatt, co-lead for the Little Scandinavia Project, emphasised the importance of collaboration to driving change in prisons. Sessions throughout the day focused on solutions that we know work in prisons, and delegates were encouraged to share best practice, work together and consider how these interventions could be replicated in order to drive wider system reform and reduce reoffending.

Change can manifest itself in so many different ways, but it’s the people who are at the heart of this change.

Max, Unlocked Ambassador and Mentoring Prison Officer

Experts from across the UK criminal justice system shared their insights with frontline prison staff throughout the day. Sessions covered approaches to violence reduction, effective ways of working with women in the criminal justice system, tackling addiction in prisons, the impact of prison architecture, the role of therapeutic communities and more. We were also delighted to be joined by other criminal justice leaders from across America and Europe who shared their insights into different approaches to reducing reoffending and considered how some of these methods could be replicated in the UK.

Your uniform or role doesn’t change your level of humanity.

Professor Martin Griffiths CBE

We were pleased to welcome David Gauke, Chair of the Independent Sentencing Review, who delivered the keynote address at the end of a fantastic day of evidence-led insights. The former justice secretary addressed the well-documented challenges that the UK prison system is currently facing. He outlined the role the Independent Sentencing Review can play and emphasised the importance of looking to other countries and trying to understand the interventions that are working in prisons around the world to break cycles of reoffending.

We can move in a direction for a more successful rehabilitative system.

David Gauke, Chair of the Independent Sentencing Review

We would like to thank all those who attended our conference this year, in particular our guest speakers who shared their experiences and expertise with delegates and our partners at Accenture who sponsored the event. We look forward to seeing you again next year.