Today’s guests are Alison Vincent and Mike Ainsworth from the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Alison Vincent is the Chief Executive of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. Alison was brought into the Foundation by Sylvia, Founder of the Charity and Sophie’s Mum. Alison’s background is in education and the arts, and her specialism is marketing and communications. She was a committed supporter of the Foundation from first hearing Black Roses, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s poetic sequence and elegy to Sophie, which jammed Radio 4 switchboards when it was first broadcast in 2010.

Mike Ainsworth currently chairs the National Police Chiefs Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Independent Advisory Groups on Hate Crime. Mike is a Trustee and Director of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. After a varied career in the Prison Service from officer in HMP Lincoln to running the lifer unit in Wormwood Scrubs and Deputy Governor in HMP Holloway, Mike worked in Kosovo during and immediately after the conflict organising the evacuation of refugees and coordinating the work of forensic teams investigating war crimes. On returning to the UK, Mike worked in a variety of voluntary sector organisations including Director of Offender Services in The Princes Trust and Director of London Services for Stop Hate UK. Mike is chair of the management board of Arc Theatre.