When big ideas have come and gone

There is no need to grieve,

It’s not about great speeches

It’s about the way you breathe.

Excerpt from ‘In-exhale’ by Benjamin Zephaniah for The Prison Phoenix Trust

12 April 2025 will be the first ever Benjamin Zephaniah Day to celebrate the life and legacy of ‘the people’s laureate’. It’s being marked by a Festival of Rhythm, Unity and Revolution, which will be held at Brunel University, where Benjamin served as Professor of Creative Writing. The PPT will be present alongside a host of other organisations who worked on causes dear to the late poet’s heart.

Here we look back on our relationship with the beloved poet, writer, actor and activist, and honour his memory. 

Benjamin Zephaniah served as Patron of the Prison Phoenix Trust for over two decades until his death in 2023. He is a much-missed and fondly remembered member of our community. Drawing on his own experience of borstal and prison, he advocated for our approach of offering non-judgemental support for the spiritual development of people in prison.

Benjamin joined The PPT at many events over the years, perhaps most memorably at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in 2005 for the launch of our book Freeing The Spirit, in which his poem ‘In-exhale’ was first published. The book has inspired more 20,000 prisoners to practise meditation and yoga and is still one of the most requested by prisons today.

Sandy Chubb was the Director of The PPT when Benjamin first joined as a Patron. She remembers him as “a true activist, who used his voice and words to tell the stories of so many people who don’t have a voice. His legacy lives on in all the books he wrote, for people of all ages.

“Benjamin truly saw people for who they were and was able to make them feel very comfortable. He was an active Patron for the PPT and gave us his support whenever we asked. He was a really fine man.”

Benjamin also wrote the foreword to The PPT’s book Peace Inside: A Prisoner’s Guide to Meditation, drawing on his own experiences of borstal and prison.

“If you’re finding it hard in prison,” he wrote, “and very few people don’t find it hard – meditation is something that will make a real difference. Meditation is a way of not just surviving but thriving in prison because it taps into that natural intelligence that we all have.”