Spark Inside is a UK-registered charity that has delivered accredited, high-quality coaching programmes in prisons across England for over a decade. Initially focused on coaching people in prison, the charity expanded its services during the Covid-19 pandemic to include prison staff. Its life coaching programme offers staff across all operational grades - along with those from probation, youth intervention, and education - a reflective space and practical tools to enhance wellbeing.
Spark Inside defines coaching as a facilitated conversation that empowers individuals and groups to discover their own solutions. Unlike mentoring, coaching avoids giving advice, instead fostering self-sufficiency, independence, and personal responsibility. Using techniques such as powerful questioning and thought-provoking prompts, coaching supports transformation and goal achievement for those living and working in prison environments.
This presentation shares findings from an evaluation of the prison staff coaching programme, conducted between March and December 2023. Using an appreciative enquiry approach - focusing on strengths rather than problems - the evaluation explored the experiences of participating staff. Key objectives included understanding the perceived impact of coaching, areas of life addressed, benefits reported, retention in service, and effects on workplace skills and motivation. It also gathered suggestions for programme improvement.
The paper will outline the evaluation methodology, present findings, and offer recommendations for future delivery. It will conclude with an audience discussion exploring the potential value of coaching in other organisations, barriers to improving staff wellbeing, and other programmes supporting prison staff health and wellbeing.
Moderated by Doug Dretke, Deputy Chair, Staff Training and Development Network, ICPA, United States
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Tom Currie
Head of Impact and Innovation, Spark Inside Coaching in Prison, England, United Kingdom
Tom Currie is Head of Impact and Innovation at Spark Inside. Spark Inside has been coaching men incarcerated in UK prisons since 2012 and coaching prison staff for over five years. Tom leads on a number of coaching-based initiatives in prisons that provide space for individuals and groups to make better, more informed choices. Tom’s career has spanned supporting international corporations to achieve culture change and he has worked as a facilitator in a wide range of settings supporting clients to increase self-awareness, change mindsets and challenge beliefs in support of developing new behaviours and habits. Since 2006, when he took his first role in the charity sector, Tom has designed, developed and managed a range of prison programmes. His role at Spark Inside combines the organisation’s drive to innovate with a keen commitment to understand and improve impact.
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Professor Karen Harrison
Professor of Law and Penal Justice, University of Lincoln, England, United Kingdom
Karen Harrison is a Professor of Law and Penal Justice at Lincoln Law School, University of Lincoln, where she also serves as the Director of the Lincoln Centre for Crime and Justice. With a career spanning over 26 years in academia, Karen began her journey with a PhD focused on the implementation of the What Works policy in the Dyfed-Powys Probation Area, incorporating ethnographic research. Throughout her career, Karen has been involved in numerous empirical projects related to offender management, policing, and the disclosure of sexual abuse. Her recent research has concentrated on the health and wellbeing of prison governors, including an evaluation of equality, diversity, and inclusion experiences among members of the Prison Governor’s Association. Karen has authored and edited several books and academic journal papers, with her work being published in prominent journals and edited collections. She has also led and contributed to various funded projects and consultancy roles, particularly in collaboration with criminal justice organisations.
