Coracle is delighted to have been awarded an Inclusive Innovation Grant from Innovate UK. The grant will allow us to further develop our in cell laptops technology to support learners in improving their basic numeracy and literacy and particularly those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities such as dyslexia and other neurodiversity needs. Prisoners represent some of the most digitally and educationally excluded people in the UK. Many prisoners did not engage in education when young. 61% of prison entrants have English literacy assessments at entry levels 1-3 (equivalent to primary school English). Poor literacy and numeracy are significant causes of reoffending. 41% of prisoner leavers reoffend within 12 months of release. This project will extend digital in-cell learning opportunities to the majority of the prison population where there is a clear and significant need to improve basic numeracy and literacy skills. We will do this by developing digital in-cell functional skills content for prisoners to use on the Coracle laptops including: * Interactive examples and exercises, gamification, animations and video based on prison life and prisoners' experience. * Incorporating digital neurodiversity and dyslexia support tools including text to speech, screen overlays, dark mode and display optimisation. * Developing digital diagnostic and analytic tools to assess user progression James Tweed, Founder and CEO of Coracle said "Improved functional skills and digital literacy is at the core of the UK Government's drive to modernise prisons and reduce reoffending as laid out in the December 2021 white paper. This project adds further exciting and necessary innovations to the technology that Coracle already provides to prisons. It will allow us to reach the largest part of the prison population; those who have the greatest educational needs in a way that no one has been able to do previously. It is hard to put a financial value on something as fundamental to prison leavers as improved digital, numeracy and literacy skills. The project will impact positively on life in prison but also on all aspects of life after prison including increasing prisoners' ability to re-integrate into society, improving their employment prospects, their ability to cope, their mental health and self-esteem and reducing their chances of re-offending."

Covid-19 continues to have a major impact on the UK prison system. Our primary concern at this time of great uncertainty is the health and wellbeing of those in our most vulnerable communities. Prisoners have been unable to receive visitors, support from outside organisations has been curtailed, prisoner movements have been severely reduced and prison officer numbers reduced due to self-isolation. This has an adverse impact on prisoner education, mental health and wellbeing and put the prison system under increased stress. Coracle is delighted to have been awarded grant support to help tackle the issues of isolation that are acutely seen within the prison estate and are grateful for the opportunity to be able to support HMPPS with the roll out of our innovative, patent pending "Coracle Inside" technology that allows prisoners access to in-cell digital education, without breaching security or allowing access to the internet. This support will let us build on the successful pilot testing facilitated by the initial grant and help us to make the system truly flexible, scalable and interoperable. The recent initial pilot has allowed us to expand the range of different use cases and demonstrate the system efficacy in 10 prisons throughout England and Northern Ireland. James Tweed, founder of Coracle said. "It's a well-researched fact that prisoners who engage in education are less likely to reoffend. Covid-19 has impacted prisoners access to education. One problem is any form of internet access is forbidden in prison. This severely restricts access to course materials and the digital tools that most of us take for granted, especially for those that are vulnerable or self-isolating. Coracle Inside laptops are issued to prisoners for use in their cells whilst ensuring 100% separation from the internet or any other devices. We allow syncing through patent pending Coracle Inside Hub, installed in a location with supervised access. The system has passed rigorous Ministry of Justice security testing and can be used to assist learners with any kind of course whether academic, vocational or self-improvement. We also support health, mental health and wellbeing programs. Our focus is now twofold -- firstly to further demonstrate the system to prison governors, prison education managers and heads of reoffending and rehabilitation and secondly to work with organisations that support prisons in improving learning, skills development, mental health and wellbeing so their materials can be delivered digitally in cell."

Covid-19 is having a major impact on the UK prison system. Our primary concern at this time of great uncertainty is the health and well being of those in our most vulnerable communities. Prisoners can no longer receive visitors, support from outside organisations have been curtailed, prisoner movements have been severely reduced and prison officer numbers are reduced due to self-isolation. This has an adverse impact on prisoner education, mental health and wellbeing and put the prison system under increased stress. Coracle is delighted to have been awarded a grant from Innovate UK to help tackle the issues of isolation that are acutely seen within the prison estate and are grateful for the opportunity to be able to support HMPPS with the roll out of our innovative, patent pending "Coracle Inside" technology that allows prisoners access to in-cell digital education, without breaching security or allowing access to the internet. Coracle has been working over the last three years with HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice to get approval for the technology. The system was developed, working closely with Learning Together -- the network of 31 universities, led by the University of Cambridge's criminology department, that enables prison residents to study alongside university students. James Tweed, founder of Coracle Inside said. "It's a well-researched fact that prisoners who engage in education are less likely to reoffend. Covid-19 has impacted prisoners access to education. One problem is any form of internet access is forbidden in prison. This severely restricts access to course materials and the digital tools that most of us take for granted, especially for those that are vulnerable or self-isolating. Coracle Inside laptops are issued to prisoners for use in their cells whilst ensuring 100% separation from the internet or any other devices. We allow syncing through patent pending Coracle Inside Hub, installed in a location with supervised access. The system has passed rigorous Ministry of Justice security testing and can be used to assist learners with any kind of course whether academic, vocational or self-improvement. We also support health, mental health and wellbeing programs. Our focus is now twofold -- firstly to demonstrate the system to prison governors, prison education managers and heads of reoffending and rehabilitation and secondly to work with organisations that support prisons in improving learning, skills development, mental health and wellbeing so their materials can be delivered digitally in cell."