Post-rugby careers can come in a variety of forms. Some players try their hands at coaching the next generation, whilst others share their expert insights as a pundit or through match commentary. However, for former Saracen Will Fraser, his life after rugby took an unexpected yet inspired turn.
Part of the fabled Saracens class of ’08 that included Owen Farrell, Jackson Wray and England captain Jamie George, Fraser has spent a career amongst some of english rugby’s top on-field leaders. Now, Fraser’s career path sees him lead the rehabilitation of current prison inmates, to best set them up for a prosperous life once they are released.
Fraser helps the inmates learn valuable life skills, with his charity the 100 and First Foundation pioneering the way for such important societal change. Fraser founded the charity to branch off 100 & First, a business consultancy which also employs five-time Premiership winning Saracen Jackson Wray.
The organisation’s name finds it’s origins in a Saracens rugby philosophy, which revolves around being a better player every time you leave the pitch, than you were when you arrived. In Fraser’s time at Sarries, the club won three league titles, and their first Premiership and European double in the 2015/16 season. With bountiful silverware decorating the trophy cabinets, Saracens had established a winning mentality, with success often found in the ‘100 and first’ time of trying.
“It’s really nice nod back to when I was playing at Sarries.” Fraser explained. “So there’s this quote by guy called Jacob Riis, who was a social reformer in the 1920s in New York, and he said, ‘when nothing seems to help, I go and watch a stone cutter hammering away at his rock. Perhaps as many as 100 times without as much as a single crack appearing. Yet, the 100 and first blow the rock was split in two, I know it’s not that last blow that did it, but all those that had gone before.’
“So it’s actually a quote we used, and I think they still use it, the club. We spoke about it and kind of how we branded it as, ‘pound the rock’. So it was very much this understanding that our rock was winning a championship. So to win a championship, you’ve got to win as many games as you can in that season. To win those games, you’ve got to win the moments in the games. To win the moments in the games, you have to train well, to train well you have to have had a good training week.
“Then in weeks you have good sessions, in good sessions there are good moments. So essentially this big goal of winning the European Championship final, goes down into ‘what can I do right here, right now’. So there’s a lot about being present, ‘so how do I leave the training ground being a better rugby player, than I was when I arrived in the morning?’ How do I get to bed tonight, being a better person when I woke up?’
“It was this philosophy of, well, we don’t get anywhere unless we have these small, cumulative blows, and it’s our behaviours or actions that get us to where we want to be, is a really big thing for me, and especially with my injuries and my career, it was something I thought of a lot.”
Fraser’s journey takes him into prisons across the UK, where he works alongside inmates who are bettering themselves, ahead of an eventual release. The former back-row first witnessed what life is really like behind bars, when he visited London’s HMP Feltham as a player, in a trip organised by the Saracens Foundation. This initial visit sparked a desire within Fraser, to improve the job prospects of the inmates and to change the social perspective on released convicts.
“When I started the business (100 and First) with a colleague at the time, we’re about nine months in, and we are both sat there and thought ‘what we’re doing is great, and we love it, but there’s something a bit more we could do with it.’
Using our own M.O (mission objective) of ‘reframe, repackaging, reapplying’, we did that to ourselves, and what we do in the corporate world, can we actually use it for a demographic or a side of society, that can genuinely benefit from it in real life ways.”
“I’ve been involved with the Saracens Foundation, when I was playing in the prison program, they had running at Feltham. You get into that world and understand how difficult it is for guys in that situation, to come back out of prison and get themselves back on the right path.
“Even truly understanding how people end up in prison in the first place is completely mind blowing. I had no idea, I knew nothing about that side of life. The second you kind of get into it.. well, there’s people that are in there, that 100% deserve to be there, but, actually, there’s so many people in there, that are there almost exclusively because of environmental and circumstantial reasons.
“Because of the environment they were born into, because of where they grew up, because of all these things that I never had to deal with. Because of where I was born and because of the family I grew up with. I’d always wanted to get back involved in that space and I had this real itch that needed me to scratched.
“It just so happened, that the right people suddenly became available, as I had no idea how to start charity or how to build it. Sam (Cload) who’s our Head of Foundation, he was super keen to basically do all of that.”
Will went on to discuss how his team works tirelessly, in shifting the public perspective on inmates that are returning to society. The former Saracen has too had his attitude changed, and urges businesses to trust in their system and not cast aside a previous prisoner who has since changed their ways. Fraser explained the workings behind his group’s efforts, in how they turn offending inmates into contributing members of society.
“Because we’re talking about identity shifts, what you’re doing in that space, you’re trying to take someone (a prisoner) who’s got a very kind of ‘offending’ point of view and mindset, and you’re trying to turn that into a pro-social worldview. You’re trying to shift their identity to one that wants to contribute to the local community, that actually wants to improve the local society that they’re coming out into, and doesn’t want to go back into offending.
“That’s fundamentally what we’re trying to do. As you can imagine, there’s loads that goes into that and the team we’ve got the foundation, Sam, Jay, Issy and Mark, they do incredible work. The outcomes we’re able to achieve at the moment for the people we work with, have been awesome so it applies even more, that part of what we do.”
“There is a massive misconception and misunderstanding from the wider society, about the reasons as to why someone ends up in prison, what prison experience is like, and then the opportunities they should or shouldn’t be given when they get released. I know that because I used to have those same misconceptions and misunderstandings, that’s why I was so keen to get involved because I had my mind completely u-turned on it.”
A passionate driver for change, Will Fraser agrees with his former Saracens teammate Jackson Wray, that prisoners should not all be lumped together within a generalising societal view. Such a perspective is damaging to a society, as an individual’s best efforts to re-form themselves whilst locked away, are disregarded and cast aside in the eyes of employers and the general public. Fraser believes that regardless of their personal growth, the stigma attached to released prisoners hinders their chances for a progressive return to society, yet is hopeful to make a change in the public’s perspective.
“Of course, people think what they think, because they only get told, what they get told. So if you’ve never been to a prison, or don’t know anyone that’s been to prison, if you’ve not had exposure to charities like ourselves, you’re going to think certain things (about prisoners) and it’s completely understandable. Because, you haven’t been shown any other way.
“So what we want to do is just find people, that are willing to expose themselves to it. To come in with an open mind, to actually have a conversation with some of these people, and understand the mechanism. We do not justify any crime. If you commit a crime, you break the law, you deserve to go to prison, 100%, that’s an absolute given.
“What we’re trying to do is understand what got that person to that place to begin with. What led them to a situation where they committed that crime. If we understand that, then we can start to make changes when they get released at the other side.”
Fraser explained the simplicity of the situation. Eventually, almost every prisoner that is behind bars across the UK, will be released and re-join a society. The former back-row highlighted this principle as the backing behind their work, and how the statement has been a driving factor, which will hopefully have a cultural shift in the view on ex-prisoners.
“The reality is… and this is what a lot of people don’t understand, is the way our justice system is set up, nearly everyone that’s in prison will be released. So even a life sentence, a life sentence with a minimum of 30, 35 years, whatever it is. So after that time, if they behave themselves in prison, they’re going to get released. That’s just the reality of life.
“Now, when they get released, they’re going to move into your community, they’re going to live on your street, they’re going to become your neighbour. Would you rather that person come out in the same mindset, they got them in prison in the first place? Or would you rather them come out with this pro-social view, and this ability and a desire to actually want to contribute to the community and to the society? Everyone says the latter.”
UK citizens pose divided opinions over the nation’s prison systems. Whilst some believe the answer to reducing crime is by issuing longer sentences, others can see the benefit of rehabilitation programmes and educating the prisoners ahead of their releases. Nevertheless, the prison system is a state-run organisation that has a significant tole on the UK tax payers. Fraser explained the extent of the financial costs of such institutions, and the contrasting views in regards to reducing the re-offending rate.
“Well, we need to invest, and then you track back. This view, people have of ‘we need to lock up longer, give them less opportunity, create more prisons,’ when you explain that scenario to them of ‘everyone’s going to get released’, they debunk their own theory. Because they suddenly realise, well, ‘if we’re going to do that, then actually we need to invest in them, and we need to give them more opportunities.’
“Then there’s the financial side of it, and no one knows the financial costs of reoffending. Reoffending, the last count in 2021, cost the UK taxpayer £24 billion in one year. £24 billion, so that’s reoffending, plus all the associated costs to that, court cases, prison programs, all those kinds of stuff.
“So the people that are calling for more money for the NHS, for the police, for all these public services that desperately need it, are also the same people that want to lock prisoners up for longer. They want to build more prisons, more jails, and you can’t have both, it’s not physically possible.
“So, even if you are going to attack it, from a non-human and a non-philosophical point of view, and you look at it purely financially, if we go down this route, we free up millions, if not billions of pounds. We reduce reoffending and we give people genuine opportunities. We reduce that figure so significantly, that money can be used elsewhere. That might be pumped into other public services.”
The anonymous example whom Jackson Wray discussed in the previous article, is the ‘shining light’ of the 100 and First Foundations’ success stories. Again keeping in full confidentiality, Fraser expressed his delight with the former prisoner who has gone on to excel to a leading role within a companies’ city office, and another former prisoner who impressed to a significant extent within the landscaping industry.
“I’ll keep the anonymity of everyone. Yes, that same example. He’s kind of our shining light, if you like, in terms of what can be done. If someone properly applies themselves, and is in that right headspace, and then has the right support, and mentorship and employment opportunities, and all the stuff we’re able to provide.
“So he’s done a phenomenal job. He just keeps going from strength to strength, he’s had a promotion recently, he’s completely turned it around. We’ve had another lad that came out one of the prisons we work in, and we put them into a role with a landscaping company. Unfortunately, something didn’t work out for him. But he did such a good job that actually, the company held the role for him. So unfortunately, because of various license conditions, he got recalled (to prison). Then when he got re-released, he had the same job for him, because he did that well.”
However as you would expect, the process has not been entirely plain sailing with some post-release placements not going to plan. Such is the industry that Fraser prides himself in, with the former flanker discussing how his group are not just out to tick the boxes. The importance of finding the right role for the right person cannot be understated, as quality is prioritised over quantity of job appointments in the ex-Saracen’s eyes.
“So yeah, we’ve had some amazing outcomes, but then equally in this space, for the best will in the world, not everything works out. So what we’re trying to do is, it’s not a numbers game for us. It’s not a case of, ‘let’s get as many people employed as you possibly can.’ Because the reality is, if you go down that route, the jobs you’re giving the people aren’t the right jobs, the organisation isn’t the right fit for them, there’s other stuff in their lives that need sorting out first.
“What happens is (in unsuccessful cases), is they actually probably end up out of a job within a month or two. Then they have nothing, but to go back to what they used to be, and then they end up back in prison. There’s a real negative kind of revolving door, so what our whole ethos is, is we need to get the right people in place on both sides.
“So, you got to have the right person that’s coming out of prison, and in the right headspace, that has a real desire and willingness to have this pro-social mindset. And then the other side of it, is we need the right mentor, the right employment partner, the right role, that’s going to allow that person to maximise their opportunity, and also give them enough level of understanding that this person is going through a complete change in their life.
“They might not have a bank account, they might not have anywhere to live. Chances are they might not have a driver’s license, they might not be able to get on all the things that we take for granted.”
Fraser closed out this look into an unseen side of society, by discussing what 100 and First require from their partnering employers. There is an understandable apprehension when a released prisoner re-enters the workplace, and Fraser needs his employers to have certain qualities to get the best out of them, and give the former inmates the greatest chances at a successful return to society.
“Employers need to have a deep level of understanding, and a level of empathy to a certain point, because then that becomes a threshold as well. So we’re fortunate that we’ve found those employer partners and some pretty substantial ones at that, that are very willing to explore this world. The irony is, when you get it right, that employing someone that’s come from prison; prison is one of the most unique experiences someone can have, for very obvious reasons.
“If you can find someone that can use that as a good thing, you know, the resilience you’re able to build, the innovation, the ingenuity. The ability to think slightly differently to your peers, all these things, if you can harness that, you have someone in your organisation that can that can work wonders for you. And we’ve seen that numerous times.”
This is the second feature in the 100 and First series. Be sure to check out the previous article with Jackson Wray here. A third article is coming soon, that focuses on Will Fraser’s rugby career, and how he has taken his on-field traits into the business world.