A WOMAN who helps young fathers at a North-East young offenders’ institution maintain a relationship with their children has had her efforts recognised with an award.

Amanda Moffett, from HMYOI Deerbolt at Barnard Castle, County Durham, was honoured for her work in managing visits and supporting family ties for prisoners aged 18 to 21 years.

She was the driving force behind the introduction of father/child visits, which have gone from strength to strength and are now extended to include siblings.

The 42-year-old, from Sunderland, also worked with a family support worker to develop a course, with input from Sure Start, and introduced family days.

Today (Thursday, July 2), she received her award from Nepacs, the North-East charity that works with prisoners, their families and the community.

“It is nice to have recognition from everyone that we work with about what we do," she said. "I recognised that there was very little opportunity for 18-21 year old males for family interaction. There are a lot of good staff work there and there is a lot of good work done.”

Lynda Elliott, manager of the learning, skills and employment activity unit at HMP Durham received an award for her work with Durham University to deliver a pioneering project that has enabled criminology students to study units of their degree alongside prisoners in custody.

Judges were impressed by the innovative Inside Out Project, which has brought benefits for prisoners and university students and is the first of its kind in the country.

Peter Barron, editor of The Northern Echo, presented the year’s awards and certificates at the event at Lumley Castle, Chester-le-Street.

He said: “Criminal justice is not just about locking people up and throwing away the key. It is about rehabilitation, resettlement and trying to stop people reoffending. It is really vital work and I congratulate Nepacs on their efforts.”

Michelle Carr, who works at HMP and YOI Low Newton, near Durham, is part of the clinical team and works on the Primrose Unit for people with severe personality disorders.

She came up with the idea of a regular newsletter for prisoners to share information and give them something creative and fun.

Andy Haslam, custodial manager at HMP Kirklevington, near Yarm, got an award for substantially increasing the number of prisoners sustaining temporary release employment and related achievements over the past year, while simultaneously improving security.

He has maintained between 65 and 85 prisoners in full time employment and brought new employers into the establishment to showcase prisoners’ skills.

As well as the awards, 18 certificates of high commendation were presented to individuals or teams who work in probation, prisons and youth offender institutions in Northumberland, Durham, Barnard Castle, and Teesside.

Helen Attewell, chief executive of Nepacs, said: “These dedicated professionals who are honoured through the Nepacs awards make all the difference to the safety of our society through reducing the risk of reoffending.”

Certificates were presented to:

Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Trust

• Audrey Gill, Hartlepool, for 38 years of excellent service in probation work

• Margaret Lochore, Durham City, for her work in the Criminal Justice Hub

• Kelly Taylor, Stockton, for her work as a volunteer member of the Stockton team

HMYOI Deerbolt

• Tracy Arneil, for her work on the Induction Wing

• Erica Lee, for her work on the Recovery Wing

• Mick Lewis, for his work leading the Safer Custody initiative on the

Segregation Unit

HMP Durham

• Richard East, for his exceptional work as an officer

HMP Frankland

• Karen Chambers, for her work maintaining and developing Family Days at HMP Frankland

HMP Holme House

• Penny Gassoumi and Keith Mullins, for their excellent work on booked visits

HMP Kirklevington

• Michelle Danvers, for her excellent work with prisoners, in particular with older ones

• Graham Hogg, for his work with Veterans in Custody

• Gary Lamb, for his work as leader of the Task Force

HMP and YOI Low Newton

• Chris Cassidy, for his therapeutic work with prisoners targeting fire setting

• Geoff Gaskill, for his work as Hospital Officer

• Derek Hardy for his work supervising the waste management team

• Angela Thomas, for her work with difficult prisoners

HMP Northumberland

• Christine Waters for her work as a volunteer over many years at Northumberland Visitors’ Centre