Our background

Unlock My Life was introduced in 2021 off the back of our successful Student Life project in schools and educational establishments. We wanted to bring our vital and award winning work to a community of young people that was hard to reach, and very much in need of support. We recognised that a prison or YOI setting can be a challenging environment to be in.

Not only do we see higher rates of mental ill-health, self-harm and suicide within prisons compared to the general population, but the environment itself comes with its own risk factors for mental health; such as an increased fear of safety, and a lack of routine and external support.

We reached out to HMP Hollesley Bay - an ‘open conditions’ prison nearest to our head office - to pilot the project among their young adults. We soon realised the whole prison population could benefit from our training and ambassador programme, so we expanded to cover all age groups. We renamed Student Life to My Life, and had the Student Life and Unlock My Life projects running concurrently.

The Governor at HMP Hollesley Bay moved to HMP Chelmsford, and was such an advocate for the success in Hollesley Bay that he asked to bring the project with him. We went from working in a Category D, to a Category B local establishment. This enabled us to use HMP Hollesley Bay as a pilot to change and adapt, in order to fit into a higher security prison.

Now, we deliver our project in an ever-growing number of prisons in England, with over 500 Mental Health Ambassadors volunteering for us in their respective establishments.