THE work of prison staff from around the region is to be recognised at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace this week.

Staff from prisons across the North-East will visit the palace tomorrow to receive Butler Trust Awards from the Princess Royal, to mark their work with inmates, and projects aimed at helping and rehabilitating prisoners.

Among the recipients will be two lecturers, Marilyn Carter and Carolyn Naseby, who have been selected for the award in recognition of their exceptional efforts in teaching young offenders about sex, relationships and parenting at Deerbolt Young Offenders' Institution, at Barnard Castle, County Durham.

A joint award will be presented to Michael Calvert, head of activities at Deerbolt, officer Malcolm Elliott, of Kirklevington Grange Prison, near Yarm, and Graeme Jones, instructional officer at Holme House Prison, Stockton.

The award recognises their work on the Albert Park Middlesbrough Restorative Prison Project, from which prisoners have made furniture, stained glass metal screens, rowing boats and bunting.

The Princess Royal will also present the Female Centre at Durham Prison with an award for their work with female prisoners.

The team of 44 uniformed and non-uniformed staff run the only high security women's prison in England and Wales.

The centre holds between 100 and 110 women, ranging from short-term prisoners who need to be held in secure conditions to those serving life sentences, some suffering from severe personality disorders or designated untreatable by the mental health services.

The awards will be given by the Butler Trust, an independent charity which runs an annual award scheme to recognise some of the outstanding but little-known work carried out by prison staff.