As with any new social venture, the PRA story is driven by the people who instigated and developed the activity. When asked to reflect on what drew them to the idea of prison radio, PRA participants all talk of the potential to change the lives of prisoners, and of a continued commitment to ‘making a difference’. This chapter focuses on the motivations, characteristics and actions of those involved in the process. I present prison radio growth as a product of a wider political and cultural context that has redefined volunteerism, social activism, and cultural production in terms of enterprise and entrepreneurship, in order to support the restoration of social welfare and growth of the knowledge-based economy. The contemporary political context placed innovation and enterprise at the centre of economic and social reform, qualities which PRA founders typified, developing a new, non-profit, creative service within the public sector. However, through discussion of literature on the reconfiguration of the non-profit sector and theories of social and creative entrepreneurship, I argue that the focus on economic functioning fails to adequately acknowledge the social values and motivations at the heart of the activity.

I begin by outlining the conditions and effects of the formalisation of the non-profit sector before discussing the unique political context of UK prison radio development. I then identify common characteristics of the people involved, dividing them into two overlapping groups: the volunteer founders and the original staff team. The aims and motivations behind the beginnings of prison radio are discussed in terms of volunteerism and social activism. Those that drove the establishment of the PRA and National Prison Radio are related to theories of social and creative entrepreneurship which increasingly inform voluntary and public sector practice. Interviews with those involved illustrate the continuation, crystallisation and evolution of PRA aims and objectives, based on core common values. The success of prison radio is achieved through an ongoing focus on accountability to the prisoner audience, collaborative working with non-profit and prison partners, and organisational independence to flexibly navigate an increasingly pressured and divisive non-profit environment.

In the preceding chapters, prison radio was discussed as both alternative and public service media, and as both a product of, and resistance against, neoliberal disciplinary practice.