Mandy Wright

Vocalise

Vocalise is an education programme for current law students to mentor people in UK prisons in debating skills. Founded in 2010, it is inspired by the Cornell University Prison Education led by academic Samuel Nelson and the Norfolk Massachusetts Prison Colony Debating Society programmes. Vocalise is the first initiative of its kind in the UK and won the Attorney General's Award for Best Student Pro-bono Initiative in 2012. -- Vocalise was founded in September 2010 by two Gray's Inn student members, Alex Just and Florence Iveson, as a pro-bono initiative supported by the Inn. It was inspired by a Cornell University programme that taught debating to maximum security prisoners in New York state. In its first year, mentors taught weekly in HMP Pentonville and the programme was an instant success. The prisoners responded extremely well to this new method of teaching, the topical issues raised, and the listening, communication and team-work skills on offer.