ACTIVE LOCAL
A day in the life of
NEIL THOMAS GOVERNOR OF HMP STOCKEN
I
started my working life as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment. After leaving the Army I worked in construction project management building schools, social housing and even helping design a sports stadium for the Saudi royal family. In corporate life I soon realised the things I found most rewarding involved doing things for the benefit of others. In the Army I led a troop of soldiers predominantly from inner city Glasgow and Birkenhead. Some had come from similar backgrounds to the men we have in custody today but had made very different life choices. Having seen soldiers develop and grow in the Army I realised I wanted to do something purposeful to help change people’s lives in civvy street so I picked the prison service. Social inequality I come from a typically middle class family and grew up in the wilds of Dartmoor. When I first joined the prison service at HMP Pentonville I had a pretty limited view of the world. Early on I remember I locked the cell door of a young lad the same age as me and when I went home that evening I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I’d been talking to him about his life growing up as the only man of the house after his father had left, how he lived with four siblings and his mother in a two-bed flat and how he was pressured into joining a London gang for safety and for friends. I wondered if he had been born into my life and I had been born into his, would our roles have been reversed? It highlighted to me for the first time the inequality that exists in some parts of our society. I’m often frustrated that so many young men and women go to prison, but we are here to try and help them to turn their lives around. In prison we undertake interventions and give people the guidance and structure they’ve perhaps been lacking outside. We can help address any drug or mental health issues, assist them with debt management, housing and being a better father. We do turn people’s lives around, we don’t succeed every time but it’s a hugely positive and rewarding environment to work in. You develop a real passion for working in prisons and there’s absolutely nothing like it. HMP Stocken is a category C prison, and we typically hold men who are serving four years or longer. Ideally a prisoner on a longer sentence would progress down the categorisation scale to open conditions prior to release. At Stocken we have 843 prisoners and we’re building a new wing which will take us to 1,056. I’m responsible for more than 400 staff including prison officers, support staff, chaplaincy and our partner groups such as Care UK which runs our medical department providing primary care, dentistry, opticians, pharmacists, mental health and substance misuse teams. We’re probably one of the biggest employers in Rutland with every conceivable career on offer. Currently we’re recruiting prison officers, operational support grades and management graduates through a two-year leadership development programme. Stocken is a good prison with a very professional team of staff. We have a low rate of violence and less than 1% of our prisoners test positive for drugs. The overall purpose of the prison service is to protect the public by reducing reoffending and Stocken is doing a fantastic job. We offer rail track work so prisoners can work with Network Rail and other organisations on release. We have street works, which is a similar scheme but for street paving and hard standing so they can get a job with the Highways Agency or local councils. We’ve got two bicycle repair workshops, farms and gardens and we make camouflage netting for the military. We offer plumbing, tiling and other City & Guilds training so prisoners can become tradesmen, and our education department offers
“You develop a real passion for working in prisons” level one and two English and maths, presentation skills and CV writing amongst other subjects. Stocken is a jewel in the prison service’s crown and I’m so proud to have been appointed as governor. The role of the prison governor is threefold. Morally I’m here to set the best example I can. Politically I’m responsible for delivering the Government’s directives for prison reform. Operationally I’m responsible for the day to day decision making in conjunction with my team. With the new building work I’m going to have a new workshop and I’m very interested in speaking to local businesses and charities that might want to get involved with us to produce things for the local community and give the men skills to help them gain employment on release. I’ve moved around a lot and I jumped at the chance to work in such wonderful surroundings. My partner and I love the countryside and getting out and about with our dogs. Rutland is absolutely beautiful, Stocken is a fantastic place to work and I’m very much looking forward to putting down roots in the county. http://unlockedgrads.org.uk https://www.prisonandprobationjobs.gov.uk/
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23/06/2017 20:22