One man and his team are quietly working across British prisons preparing inmates for life on the outside with laptops they can use in their cells. The service is transforming lives, saving taxpayers millions and often starts with a game of chess
Cambridge-based Coracle is now in 90% of prisons in England and Wales and, according to a new report, is benefiting taxpayers to the tune of £35m per year.
Coracle CEO James Tweed says prisoners are often reluctant to learn at first but something happens when they start to play chess.
“It gives them something to hope for, something to work on and chess is often a gateway to a world of learning,” Tweed explains.
“A lot of prisoners start off with the computerised chess game,” says Tweed. “Chess is incredibly popular in prisons but the version we offer has the dual benefit of acting as a gateway to the educational pathways available through Coracle.”
Now, these methods have been proven worthy of investment with a new independent report.
The study, conducted by crime and justice consultancy Crest Advisory, revealed that for every £1 spent on Coracle’s services, £16 was recouped by taxpayers and the wider economy.
The report found that the service reduces assaults by almost 2,000 incidents per year, including more than 200 serious assaults. Coracle’s education technology has also helped nearly 1,200 more ex-prisoners into work within six months of release. Overall, the service was found to be worth £35m a year to taxpayers.
Tweed said of the report
“We always believed we were making an impact but even I was astounded by the amount of value to taxpayers.
“Violence in prisons can be appalling both for staff and prisoners. It also prevents anything meaningful or worthwhile taking place and is very expensive in terms of medical treatment and time off work. So the fact that we are doing something that reduces this particular issue is very welcome news.”
Prisoners give glowing reviews of their own experiences, including these anonymised comments from the Nottingham Trent report: “I’m hoping it opens the door to a chance… It felt like I was actually doing something useful with my time rather than just sitting around doing nothing.”
Another inmate remarked how prisoners spend most of their time ‘banged up’ with nothing to do all day apart from watching the prison TV, and said education was a very good alternative.
“I’d much rather be reading something on a Chromebook than watching the TV,” the prisoner said.
According to Tweed, now is the time to invest further in prison education. “Our prisons are in total crisis and we desperately need a long term solution that reduces crime and lowers the prison population,” he said. “Endlessly building more prisons is not the answer.
“Investing in education is proven to be the best way to cut reoffending and we have never needed this more than we do now. I urge the government and politicians to read this report and act upon it.”
