InternationalWomen’sDay2026–SparkInside’scoachingfor women 

Last year marked an exciting milestone for Spark Inside: we began coaching women in prison for the first time. 

Two cohorts of women at HMP East Sutton Park were supported with one-to-one coaching, offering space to build confidence, clarity around their goals, and tackle challenges like low self-esteem, family relationships, and planning for their release. 

The results were really inspiring – listen to one woman, Caprice, talk about how 1:1 coaching supported her: 

This year, we’ve been so excited to start building on our one-to-one offer and begin piloting groupwork. These have run throughout January and February, and it has been incredible to see how dedicated and engaged the group has been; all 6 women have attended every single session. 

We have had some beautiful feedback already, with women sharing: 

“I have become more assertive and have put myself first in situations that I previously wouldn’t have done”  

“I have been absolutely in awe of what an incredibly skilled, compassionate and empathetic coach Ali is. I can honestly say my coaching has been life changing.”  

“I feel more confident, at peace and much more positive about myself and my future.” 

“I now know my values and feel them internally.” 

Why does this matter? 

Women in prison account for a very small proportion of the prison estate – less than 5%. Young women (aged 18 to 30) make up an even smaller ​‘minority within a minority’ in custody (1). This means their needs are often overlooked amongst a system that has been designed for holding men and boys. 

Whilst the system isn’t working well for anyone in custody, women in prison are more likely to have experienced specific, often overlapping, forms of disadvantage. 

These include: 

• The impact of short sentences – 63% of women entering prison have committed a non-violent offence, with almost half (48%) serving a sentence of 6 months or less (2).
• This makes access to meaningful rehabilitation or resettlement support whilst in custody extremely difficult, and 46% of women released from prison are reconvicted within a year (3).
• Women are more likely to be a primary caregiver and experience child removal as a result of a custodial sentence: in 2024, it was estimated that over half of women in prison have children under the age of 18 (4).
• High levels of gendered abuse – 70% of women in prison report having experienced domestic violence (5).
• Poor mental health — 74% of women in prison report mental health problems, compared to 56% of men (6).
• Women are self-harming in prison at a rate nine times that of men (7).
• These issues are compounded by racial disproportionality within the system; as is the case in the male estate, women from Black, Mixed heritage, Asian or Gypsy Roma Traveller heritage are over-represented at every stage of the criminal justice system.

Women therefore deserve and need specialised, tailored, support that can respond to their experiences and help them navigate the unique challenges they face, both in custody and upon release. 

How we developed our coaching for women 

Delivery of one-to-one sessions across 2024 – 25 was led by our coaches Caterina Declas and Ali Gibbs, who both bring with them a wealth of experience coaching women around challenges such as motherhood, low self-worth, relationship struggles, addiction, or experiences of trauma or abuse.  

Ali began working with women in HMP Holloway in 1989 and has consistently worked with women in or with experience of prison ever since. We also have benefitted greatly from the expertise of our Trustee, Fionnuala Gordon, who leads the development of trauma-informed programmes for secure settings at One Small Thing. 

Next steps 

We are committed to continue our coaching work with women across the next three years. 

We are really happy to share that we will now offer our one-to-one coaching for women across three sites alongside the additional groupwork.  

Working across three prisons – East Sutton Park, Downview, and Send – for longer will enable us to thoroughly pilot, refine, and evaluate what women in custody really want and need from our coaching support.  

A reflection session on the groupwork will be taking place soon, offering a space for the women who have completed the programme to shape how it may develop. 

We’ve been so grateful for the ongoing interest in and support for this work and look forward to sharing further updates on its progress. 

References: 

1. Agenda and Alliance for Youth Justice (2021) Falling Through the Gaps: Young women transitioning to the adult justice system
2. Prison Reform Trust (2026), Bromley Briefing
3. Ibid
4. Ministry of Justice (2024). Official statistics in development: Estimates of children with a parent in prison
5. Ministry of Justice (12^th June 2025) Identified needs of offenders, custody and community, 31 October 2024, para 3.8
6. Prison Reform Trust (2026), Bromley Briefing