AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Zahid Bhatti is a Band 7 Managing Chaplain & Imam at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, and has helped lead an impressively large and multifaith community offering support and comfort for those in his care. [This Award is supported by Ingeus.]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: George Blake has been a Prison Officer for a third of a century, and his previous manager and one of his nominators, now retired, summed it up well: “when I think of HMP Dartmoor and its staff, I think of Officer George Blake. His wealth of experience and knowledge is invaluable, having worked in nearly every department we offer as a service – from walking the landings to teaching programmes, he is someone I have personally been to for advice, as I know many others have.” [This […]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Jo Brown is a Prison Officer at HMP Holme House who has taken her voluntary role, as a Family Liaison Officer, to new heights. Her work with families and offenders around terminal diagnoses, death, and bereavement, is a case study in truly excellent practice at one of the most difficult times imaginable. [This Award is supported by Sodexo Justice Services.]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Wayne Hodges works for the National Drug Strategy and Delivery Team at HMPPS HQ, and received an Award for his work helping create and lead an innovative and successful Incentivised Substance Free Living scheme, developed for the ‘10 Prison’ project, which is now being explored more widely across the estate. [This Award is supported by Mitie Care & Custody.]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Alice Jones is an outstanding example of a great teacher imaginatively supporting prisoners with Additional Learning Needs (ALN)[1] at HMP Parc in Wales. Her unique combination of skills and gifts has achieved remarkable results – as testified to by numerous nominations, including several prisoners. In addition, her own personal support for colleagues working across the establishment is widely recognised and deeply appreciated. [This Award is supported by The Bromley Trust.]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Ricardo Lafuente-Dyer has spent 30 years as a Prison Officer at HMP Pentonville, where he is currently a Custodial Manager, and receives his Award in recognition of his outstanding, imaginative and innovative work tackling gang violence. [This Award is supported by MTC.]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Deanna is a Developmental Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) working for Care UK at HMP Oakwood, who receives her Award for her excellence as a nurse and in particular for her superb contribution to palliative care, described as “gold standard”, including embedding the ‘Dying Well in Custody Charter’ at Oakwood. As several colleagues noted, when patients choose a prison as their preferred place of death, rather than the offer of spending their last days in a local hospice bed, you know that somebody must be doing something right. […]

AWARD WINNER 2020-21: Daljinder Sangha is a Prison Officer of fifteen years standing at HMP Woodhill, who receives his Award for the excellence of his jailcraft, in particular when dealing with challenging or vulnerable prisoners, for his additional support to colleagues, particularly new ones, and his role as a POA representative, well-respected by his peers at all levels. Woodhill “has many good officers”, says its Governor, Nicola Marfleet; “Daljinder Sangha is one of the very best”. [This Award is supported by the Prison Officers Association.]

COMMENDEE 2020-21: Helena Baptista, one of Jose’s Education Staff colleagues at Pentonville, wrote a vivid Initial Nomination, and it’s worth quoting at length as it gives a real sense of Jose’s impact on HMP Pentonville – and the wider prison community – in his role as an Education Lecturer par excellence:

COMMENDEE 2020-21: Kenny Beaton, who works as part of the Environmental Group responsible for HMP Woodhill’s upkeep, has a strikingly positive impact on those around him, and a rare set of personal gifts that is clear to all his colleagues and those he works with: in short, he is someone people would really like to be able “to bottle”. Or as his Initial Nominator Will Lilford, Head of Special Units at Woodhill puts it simply: “Kenny is a member of staff who everyone loves.”