Established in 2012, we have worked with over 1,000 people who live and work in ten prisons, youth offenders institutions and secure training centres across London and the South East.

2009

In the beginning…

Our Founder, Baillie Aaron, was teaching entrepreneurship in prisons in the USA. 

Baillie saw that many people in prison felt there were barriers to living a crime-free future, despite being motivated to change when they connected to their passion – or their ​“spark inside”.

She wanted to build a programme that would allow these young people to have a purpose to strive towards upon release: a more attractive alternative to a return to crime.

2011

Finding coaching

Baillie asked the experts – young Londoners whose lives had been impacted by prison – what they needed. They had two requirements: that no-one told them what to do, and that they had tailored support, that was unique to them and their journeys. Young people wanted coaching.

2012

Hero’s Journey™

As Baillie immersed herself in the coaching world, she met an impassioned life coach, Lola Fayemi, who designed what is now Spark Inside’s award-winning intervention, Hero’s Journey™ – a structured life coaching programme for 15-to-25-year-olds in prison. Lola established our work in prisons, hiring and training our first group of coaches to deliver the programme.

Hero’s Journey™ builds young people’s motivation to change their lives to ultimately reduce reoffending, make society safer, and prevent future victims of crime.

Find out more about Hero’s Journey™

2013

Working in prisons

As our Hero’s Journey™ programme grew in prisons across London and the South East, we recognised that an often-tense and chaotic prison environment was not conducive to rehabilitation. The prison culture needed to change. 

2014

The Conversation Systems Coaching Programme ® (The Conversation) is piloted

Acting on an appeal for support from a prison governor, our innovative programme team developed and piloted a pioneering systems coaching programme, now named The Conversation Systems Coaching Programme ® (The Conversation).

The Conversation looks less at individuals, and more at their relationships, and how they effect their environment. It aims to improve interactions between prison staff and people who live on the prison wings, in order to create a safer and more rehabilitative prison environment. This supports people in prison in turning their lives around, making them less likely to reoffend.

Find out more about The Conversation

2014

Hero’s Journey™ is award-winning!

The head of our programme team wins the Charity Innovator of the Year Award in recognition of our Hero’s Journey™ life coaching programme, at the Charity Staff and Volunteers Awards 2014.

2015

Reducing reoffending and violence through life coaching

Commissioned by Ministry of Justice to reduce violence in London prisons, our Hero’s Journey™ programme is evaluated at HMPs Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs.

Relative to a matched group, participants’ reoffending reduced by one-third. Young men’s violent adjudications decreased, as their involvement in Hero’s Journey™ increased.

Find out more about Our Impact

2016

Improving relationships at HMP Pentonville 

Our systems coaching programme, The Conversation, is evaluated for the first time at HMP Pentonville. Our key findings are:

  • People in prisons’ relationships with prison staff significantly improved. 
  • Prison officers’ empathy towards people living in prison significantly improved.
  • Positive entries on people living in prisons’ Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) records increased by 81%.

Find out more about Our Impact

2016

Shortlisted for Charity Times Award

We are shortlisted for Best New Charity in the Charity Times Awards 2016.

2017

Hero’s Journey™ Interim Evaluation Results

The Social Investment Consultancy release an independent evaluation of Hero’s Journey™. It shows our programme significantly improved young people’s wellbeing; confidence and resilience; empathy and emotional intelligence; and decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Find out more about Our Impact

2017

The Conversation wins a Robin Corbett Award

We are awarded a commendation in the Robin Corbett Award for ​‘Prisoner Re-integration’ 2017 for The Conversation at HMP Belmarsh.

Congratulations! Tell me more

2017

New Spark Inside brand, co-designed with young people at HMPYOI Isis

We conducted a focus group with a group of young men, who sketched-out designs, which became the Spark Inside brand that you see today. One of the focus group participants said: ​“It was exciting and I’d like to do this kind of thing regularly. It’s nice to be needed for something like this and I hope it helped.”

Find out more

2018

Nine brand new coaches join Spark Inside

After successfully completing five days of rigorous coach training, we have welcomed nine brand new life coaches to the Spark Inside team.

Find out more about new coaches

2018

Shortlisted for the Good Help Award

Spark Inside was announced as one of 19 finalists in Nesta and Osca’s Good Help Award, from over 300 applicants!

Find our more about the shortlist

2018

We’ve reached the 1,000 milestone!

Spark Inside has now worked with over 1,000 people living and working in prisons!

Congratulations! Tell me more

2019

Winners of the Goodwill Champions: The Wave Makers Award

Spark Inside is delighted to have won the HCL Technologies ​“Goodwill Champions: The Wave Makers” award for our prison coaching programmes, presented at the World Economic Forum’s 49th Annual Meeting in Davos.

Congratulations! Tell me more

2020

Founder Baillie Aaron steps down

Baillie passes the baton to CEO Vicki Cardwell.

Read more about Vicki

2020

Spark Inside begins the pilot of our tailored life coaching programme for young black men in prison

Two of our specially-trained professional life coaches worked with young black men in HMPYOI Isis, delivering our Hero’s Journey™ life coaching programme, which was adapted to address the specific experiences of young black men in the prison system.

Find out more about our programme

2020

Hero’s Journey™ three-year impact report published

The Social Investment Consultancy evaluated the impact of Hero’s Journey™. The final report shows that across the three years, Spark Inside has made a clear, positive impact on the lives of over 350 young men in prison.

Find out more about Our Impact

2020

Spark Inside begins coaching prison staff

As part of our response to COVID-19, we adapted our services to offer life coaching to prison staff who work in the prisons where we usually coach young men.

Find out more

2021

We publish our Strategic Plan 2021 – 2024

Building on our learning, and the team’s resilience and innovation during a tough year in lockdown, our strategic plan begins with our new vision and mission and sets out our five key aims for the next three years.

Read our strategic plan

2021

We publish the Coaching Prison Staff impact report

Over 150 hours of coaching were delivered to staff and we reported on the positive impact of coaching prison staff during Covid-19.

Find out more about coaching

2021

We begin coaching young people at HMP Lincoln, in our first partnership of its kind

For the first time ever, Spark Inside delivers outside of London and the South-East, as we began our Hero’s Journey™ life coaching programme in HMP Lincoln with the Lincolnshire Action Trust.

Read more about the partnership

2021

We begin delivering coaching in the community, in partnership with the Forward Trust and the National Probation Service

Spark Inside is now enabling more young people to access coaching at different points in their journey, by delivering our Hero’s Journey™ life coaching programme in the community.

Find out more

2021

Being Well Being Equal launched

We launch our campaign for wellbeing support for young men and young Black men in prison to be prioritised and tailored.

Find out about Being Well Being Equal

2022

Kenny Imafidon and Sophie Ruddock became Spark Inside’s first Ambassadors

2022

We celebrated 10 years since Spark Inside was set up as a charity

Read more here

2023

The Conversation was piloted 

Find out more

2024

We publish our Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027

Building on our learning, and the team’s resilience and innovation during a tough year in lockdown, our strategic plan begins with our new vision and mission and sets out our five key aims for the next three years.

Read our strategic plan

2024

We published a report into Black Hero’s Journey

Read the report

2024

The Hero’s Journey programme was rolled out into the East Midlands for the first time

2024

Black Hero’s Journey programme receives Zurich Municipal Award for Diversity and Inclusion

Find out more