The Crito team first met Sonia Walsh when she was Governor of HMP Warren Hill, rated as the best prison in the country. That reputation was in large part to her emphasis on strong reform culture and personal development during her time in charge there.

So we were excited to hear that she been appointed Governor of a larger C-category prison in the east of England, HMP Wayland. We met with Sonia this week to present our vision of an alliance between HMP Wayland, People Plus, the University of East Anglia and the Crito Project, to deliver an accredited two-year higher education programme to incarcertated students. Despite a number of exciting progammes around the UK, we think this will be the first of its kind in the country: we will offer a clear progression through three preparatory modules towards three accredited modules awarding 20 credits each. These will be structured, taught and assessed on the same basis as is found on the UEA’s campus classrooms.

In our seven years experience teaching at a variety of prisons, we’ve witnessed how important the role of Governor is, and how different governors have a huge impact on the culture, atmosphere and priorities of a prison. Crito Project is very happy to have the chance to work with Sonia Walsh again, and to be a part of her vision for HMP Wayland.