Jason Grant
“How can you come to live a life without violence?”

Exploring how collective and systemic trauma shapes our identities and leads us to live a life where a part of us is hidden from the world. He shares his insights into how violence shapes the lives of young men in prison and how he himself refuses to live a life of violence.

About the conversations

This series of six live conversations was recorded between October 2020 – April 2021 delving deep into the work of RESTORE, The Forgiveness Project’s award-winning prison programme. In conversation with the storytellers as well as a participant and former officer, these enquiries, like the work of RESTORE, explore our shared humanity and ask us to imagine – if we had lived each other’s lives, would we have done things any differently? 

Since running the conversations we have had a lot of interest from people asking for access, both for personal interest and professional development. We offer them here as powerful intimate conversations on lives deeply considered as well as models of conversation and facilitation. We offer them fully subtitled on the Vimeo platform. We ask a small fee for all videos, both to support our future work and also to afford privacy and respect to our storytellers who have been willing to share so much of themselves in these intimate conversations.

Thank you for the interview, it was very thoughtfully done. Jason is a pleasure to listen to and very thought-provoking.
Prison Chronicles Online Attendee

About the guest

Jason grew up in south east London, faced hugely difficult circumstances and ended up in prison at the age of 16. The education he received inside, particularly his work with prison radio, transformed his life. Upon release, Jason got into Goldsmiths, University of London, and graduated with a 2.1 in Media and Communications.

Since then Jason has worked in local, regional and national radio stations as well as reporting from most of the countries in the EU. Jason currently works with organisations to create meaningful change within criminal justice and mental health systems.

In the aftermath of the 2011 London riots/uprising, Jason wanted to find a way to help young men caught up in the criminal justice system. Jason found what he was looking for in RESTORE where he shared his story for five years in prisons throughout England and Wales.

Explore other conversations

Marian Partington
“How do you live with what you have done?”

Exploring how Marian found the most creative way to turn towards her pain and understand her place in it. She explains how she chose prison work as a form of justice that supported a profound understanding of how we might restore the human spirit. Learn more

Jason Grant
“How can you come to live a life without violence?”

Exploring how collective and systemic trauma shapes our identities and leads us to live a life where a part of us is hidden from the world. Jason shares his insights into how violence shapes the lives of young men in prison and how he himself refuses to live a life of violence. Learn more

Anne-Marie Cockburn
“What supports us when our hearts become calcified from our pain?”

Exploring the depths of grief and the unexpected place of love that can be found in the most barren of spaces. Anne-Marie examines how her curiosity to discover the story behind the story nourished a profound realisation of mutuality with men and women in prison. Learn more

Phill Iveson
“My uniform does not prevent others from seeing me as a human being.”

This conversation offers a rare opportunity to listen to a former prison officer share his own story and how that impacts on his relationships with the men in prison, offering a space for kindness, empathy and compassion to emerge. Learn more

Siobhan Jackson
“There is no place to hide in prison.”

This conversation examines how prison saved Siobhan’s life and reveals her fears of whether she would be safe enough and good enough to share her story when there was nowhere to hide. Learn more

Jacob Dunne
“I was shocked that the person I connected to the most was a prison officer – how was this possible?”

Exploring Jacob’s return to prison as a storyteller, and the unexpected resentments and challenges that arose – ultimately revealing a need for Jacob to realise the limits of sharing his story. Learn more