Joseph Kajy, the host of the "Let's Get Real" podcast, shares his incredible life journey from battling addiction and spending time in prison to becoming a successful entrepreneur and devoted family man. His story is a powerful reminder that it's never too late to start over and create a better future. Joseph emphasises the importance of embracing one's true self and rejecting external validation in a society where social media and societal pressure can make it challenging to stay true to onesel...
Mar 15, 2023•57 min
Samantha Billingham is a survivor of domestic abuse and the founder of SODA. A single parent to a beautiful daughter who has set up her own support group to help others, from being controlled for years to finding the courage to ask for help, she is now putting herself first. A second chance at living her own life! We hear Samantha’s story about raising awareness of what so many face behind closed doors in their own homes, For those suffering and afraid to speak out, you can visit sodahq.uk for c...
Mar 08, 2023•53 min
After being convicted of the rape and murder of a high school classmate at just 17 years old, Jeffrey Deskovic spent 16 long years in prison. However, DNA testing proved his innocence and led to the conviction of the real culprit, who was already incarcerated for another murder. While this revelation may bring some peace to the victim, Angela Correa, and her loved ones, Deskovic's nightmare was far from over. In this interview, he shares his experience and how it motivated him to establish the J...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Morgan Godvin was addicted to heroin from a young age. To support her habit she sold drugs. The sale of heroin to one of her best friends led to his death and her being imprisoned, in the USA, for 5 years. Her activism and advocacy now centre around reducing the harms associated with drug use, preventing overdose death, and improving access to higher education in prison. She has been a consumer of harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services throughout the state. Her mother died of a prescri...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr
In this week’s retake we look at episode 72 - where I share the introduction and epilogue to ‘Notorious’, my autobiography. From being the story, to now telling the story. My own narrative, as many listeners will know, is not just about the dark challenges of injustice and the dehumanisation of what is experienced in prison. It’s a reflection on my weaknesses, education and self development that helped me find the ways in which I could keep going against all the odds. The overlap between my life...
Feb 15, 2023•14 min
We revisit episode 50, with Laynara about love locked down. From her hometown in Brazil she fell in love with Aaron, who at the time was behind bars serving a life sentence in the States! She talks about their friendship as pen pals, to love, and her hopes for the future with her now fiancé who she had never met in person. Aaron has also shared his story with us on a prison phone call in two previous episodes. Prison Love for Aaron and Laynara has changed both of their lives dramatically . Conne...
Jan 25, 2023•18 min
In this week’s retake 7 we are going to episode 74 with our head of fundraising, Jamie Hunt. He asks Raphael questions about how from the success of the Netflix series ‘Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons’, the Raphael Rowe Foundation was founded. They talk about why there is a need to improve basic human rights in prisons around the world. To find out more about the Foundation’s work visit the website raphaelrowefoundation, or click link below. It all comes down to basic human needs, water, foo...
Jan 18, 2023•18 min
Gary Mansfield, ‘The Artful Dodger’ from episode 18 on this week's retake, agreed to transport, what he thought, was fake designer clothes labels, which actually turned out to be 4.2 million worth of class A drugs! He received a 14 year sentence in prison, and behind bars found solace through art. Gary shares with us his cathartic experience in surviving prison’s challenges, determined to change his life. Making art work and being the vessel for others to think differently. Gary Mansfield Social...
Jan 11, 2023•17 min
In this retake 5 we go back to the beginning, all the way to episode 2, to explore what does Second Chance mean. Lordia Lewis-Spencer, a Lead Psychotherapist from Protea Psychotherapy Practise and Christopher Hickin, Assistant Director from Remedi who provide restorative justice services. Externally we are looking for a Second Chance, but really it comes with Self as Human Beings. To become better versions of ourselves, we must give ourselves a Second Chance. Lordia explains how self-actualizati...
Jan 04, 2023•13 min
Lilly is an extraordinary individual who volunteers to help prisoners reintegrate back into society. We revisit episode 73 where Lilly talks with no judgement about helping people to give offenders and ex-offenders a voice. Through studying a law degree and working with the criminal justice charity ‘Sussex Pathways’ she encourages ex-prisoners to stop re-offending. Trying to repair some of the harm in and out of prisons. Through exploring her own journey from sex, drugs and physical/emotional ab...
Dec 28, 2022•14 min
Jess Impiazzi has had such a full life from Reality TV star (Ex on the Beach/Celebrity Big brother) to now Actress (Keep Calm & Carry On/Override) who is on to bigger and brighter things. Behind the scenes she has come through domestic violence, divorce, mental health challenges, alcoholism, and even suicidal thoughts. She has managed to find in the darkest of times you can always hold on to the good and everything is captured in her new book ‘Silver Linings’. An in-depth conversation betwee...
Dec 21, 2022•13 min
Colin Richards takes a humanistic approach to sex and intimacy and see’s himself as a sex educator and general problem solver of sex and relationship challenges. He helps people transform their relationships and sex lives to become what they want and deserve. By combining knowledge of sexual and relationship psychology with his experience as a sensual masseur he is able to work with both the emotional and sexual. Colins Social Links: Website Facebook Twitter Second Chance Podcast Links: Raphael ...
Dec 14, 2022•10 min
Cookie, not her real name, as she wanted to protect her true identity, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the death of her 12 week old baby boy. She maintained her innocence throughout the 13 years she was held in prison. She continues to protest her innocence on the outside. Go to Episode 3, Second Chance Podcast, to listen to the full interview. Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-3-cookie-served-13-years-in-prison-for-killing-her/id1526505997?i=1000488847302 Second Chance Podca...
Dec 07, 2022•9 min
Matthew Allman was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder after an acute episode led to his being sectioned and institutionalised in an asylum, in Barbados. Despite being held in total isolation and being medicated to manage his behaviour, he found a way out. In this interview he talks about how taboo mental illness is in his home country and incidents that led up to him bneing sectioned. He shares the methods he has learned to manage his condition, allowing him to pursue his musical career and live li...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Emma Guns has had some remarkable experiences as a beauty editor and has worked with global brands in beauty, health, and lifestyle. She's mingled with models, TV personalities, and pop stars, attending some of the most coveted red carpet events. But Emma's personal life has been a different story. Beneath her smile and glamorous exterior, Emma has struggled with her weight, depression, anxiety, and the lifelong hair loss condition alopecia. Emma's experiences have compelled her to become an adv...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Sarah Frei is an inspirational young woman who had to have both legs amputated above the knee and was left paralyzed after a drunk driver crashed into her car on the night of July 30, 2020. Sarah, just 17 at the time, was on her way home with three friends when the incident happened. She suffered paralysis below the waist, a broken back, injuries to her spine, a broken ankle and injuries to her face. She has undergone 20 surgeries but needed to have both of her legs amputated. Less than three mo...
Nov 09, 2022•53 min
In the late nineties, John Lefebvre was approaching middle age and living out an unpromising legal career in Calgary, Canada. Then he jumped on board a dot-com start-up as a founder of Neteller. As companies fortunes rose along with those of the online gambling industry, the pay-off for Lefebvre and his partners would be astronomical. But it didn’t come without a price. The firm's involvement in transactions serving the online gambling industry led to charges of money laundering, racketeering, r...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Chrissy Chambers was the victim of revenge porn and chose to speak out to prevent others going through the trauma she experienced being publicly exposed on social media. When Chrissy broke off her relationship with an ex boyfriend he became revengeful and induced her with alcohol before secretly filming himself having sex with her. He posted the videos on at least 30 porn websites which is when Chrissy first learned what had happened. During her fight to have the videos removed she suffered from...
Oct 11, 2022•57 min
David was imprisoned for his part in an organised drug trafficking network. But that’s not what defines him. His self-belief and determination took him from a prison cell to the head coach and manager of Livingston FC, a Scottish premiership football team. His story is testimony to the change in direction a person can take given an opportunity. His candidness and honesty is refreshing and to the point. He does not make excuses or blame anything or anyone for the mistakes he recognises were of hi...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Britain’s high reoffending rate costs taxpayers around £15bn a year. Very little of taxpayers money is spent on the important work that volunteers like Lilly do to assist prisoners reintegrate back into society. As a result 60% of released inmates go on to reoffend within a two-year period. Prisons seclude criminals from the rest of society and so naturally ex-offenders find it difficult to readjust to normal life once they get out and find it difficult to reintegrate into society. Lack of job o...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 8 min
In this episode Raphael reads a couple of extracts from his book Notorious. Inspiring people to think about those they would not normally consider deserving of a Second Chance. Second Chance Podcast Links: Website Buzzsprout Apple Podcast Audible Facebook Donation Support: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/secondchance1 Support the show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 23, 2022•16 min
Michael Irwin was arrested at Gatwick Airport in 2007 with 1.1 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the lining of a bag he’d collected in the Caribbean. At the time he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. He was sentenced to twelve years for drug trafficking. He served six in prison and six outside on licence. Whilst in prison Michael studied criminology and psychology and upon release he completed a masters at Queen's University Belfast. His second chance in life started in prison and his book ‘My Li...
Mar 16, 2022•56 min
Myles Harris, aka Bouncer is a content creator, sports and boxing promoter and an entrepreneur who served time in prison for robbery and drug offences. He plays on his past reputation naming sports management company ‘Wicked N Bad’. Myles’s journey to success was, like many poor and marginalised families' from inner city council estates, difficult and challenging. That’s not an excuse, it’s a reality, but as he advocates, it shouldn’t stop you wanting more, or becoming more, than the defined neg...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Michael O’Brien is a survivor of one the most emblematic miscarriages of justice in Britain. Known as ‘The Cardiff Newsagent Three’ case, it has become a key point of reference for campaigners against injustice. He spent 11 years in prison before his conviction was overturned. He lost not only his freedom but everything he'd ever had, including his wife, his child, and even his health. But he did gain something from his time inside: a self-taught knowledge of Law, and a burning desire to help ot...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Raphael is in conversation with associate professor David Skarbek, author of The Puzzle of Prison Order: Why Life Behind Bars Varies Around the World. An illuminating work of much interest to students of crime and punishment. Skarbek’s book digs behind the scenes of global prisons, studying the balance of power and hierarchy behind bars and how that affects prisoners. The conversation was part of the Fall for the Books Festival, organised by George Mason University, in Virginia, USA. Fall for th...
Feb 23, 2022•51 min
In 1991, Darnell Philips was 19 years old when he was sentenced to 100 years in prison for raping and brutally beating a 10-year-old girl in Virginia Beach, in the USA. In 2015, the Innocence Project based at the University of Virginia, found, and had tested, new DNA evidence that they say proves he was not at the scene of the crime. This crucial development led to Darnell being freed from prison, on parole, in 2018, after serving 28 years in prison. Darnell, now 50, has always insisted on his i...
Feb 16, 2022•57 min
In this episode, we share the inspiring story of Jessica Kent's Incredible Journey: Giving Birth in Prison, Overcoming Addiction, and Advocating for Change. Jessica Kent gave birth to her first child while serving a five-year sentence in an American prison for drug and firearm charges. After just a few days with her newborn, the authorities took the child away. But Jessica was determined to regain custody of her daughter. She overcame her drug addiction and won custody of her daughter, building ...
Feb 09, 2022•59 min
Word of warning, this episode contains details of sexual abuse that some listerners might find upsetting. Jeremy Indika is founder of ‘Something to Say’. His mission is to break the silence surrounding child sexual abuse and to create content that attracts the attention of everyone. Because this is everyone's concern. Jeremy was sexually abused by his child minder when he was just 8 years old. Although his abuser was never prosecuted Jeremy was able to track him down and confront him. It’s a sub...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr
Brenda Birungi aka ‘Lady Unchained’ is passionate about second chances and is an important advocate for life after prison, having been sentenced to two and a half years inside at the age of 21 for a violence offence. She’s since become a poet, facilitator, mentor, and radio host for National Prison Radio. Brenda is also the founder and creative director of Unchained Poetry, an artistic platform for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system. She is also the host for Unchained Ni...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Colin Richards is a sex and relationship engineer and master sensual masseur. He takes a humanistic approach to sex and intimacy and see’s himself as a sex educator and general problem solver of sex and relationship needs and challenges. He aims to help people transform their relationships and sex lives to become what they want and deserve. Working full time in this field since 2005 he has discovered and used various different approaches that are not generally covered by conventional methods to ...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 11 min
