THE governor of HMP Dartmoor has won a regional award as part of this year’s Festival of Learning Awards.

Bridie Oakes-Richards was presented with the South West Employer of the Year Award from the Learning and Work Institute as part of the festival. These awards, funded by the European Social Fund, showcase and celebrate the wonderful things that individuals, families, communities and employers can achieve through learning.

Since becoming governor of HMP Dartmoor in January 2015, Mrs Oakes-Richards has actively supported the onsite Union Learn funded POA Learning Centre. The governor provides the building within which the learning centre is based and funds the facilities, including the broadband connection. POA Learning provides the staff and the IT equipment comprising ten PCs, printers and scanners for staff use. The POA Learning staff support and guide learners who are sourced from staff at HMP Dartmoor, as well as the local community.

The positive and supportive relationship between the employer (HMP Dartmoor) and POA Learning generates a win-win situation in relation to positive needs based staff development opportunities that feed into the business needs of the organisation as well as providing continued professional development for employees. The learning opportunities engendered ensure that prison staff — both operational and non operational — are armed effectively, via ‘up to date’ learning to deal with the most challenging of offenders and their associated needs.

Within HMP Dartmoor, 33% of offenders have declared learning needs. The governor requested POA Learning provided ADHD awareness training and autism training to employees. To date, 70 staff members have received ADHD training and all operational staff will be receiving an online awareness session about autism during 2016. The governor also requested that POA Learning sourced basic sign language training for operational staff and has provided access to a Level 2 qualification in customer service awareness to all operational support grade staff — those with a ‘front of house’ role.

Andy Harding, POA Learning’s South West regional manager who submitted the winning nomination to the Festival of Learning, said: ‘The governor’s innovation lies in constructively using the POA Learning facilities to best effect to source needs-based learning for staff within the organisation.

‘Staff need not be sent on expensive training courses with all the associated costs away from their home — distances that for some staff may make such learning otherwise prohibitive due to childcare issues. Instead the needs-based learning is delivered within or from the existing onsite learning centre.

‘I was delighted that our nomination was successful as due recognition for all the support that Mrs Oakes-Richards has provided POA Learning at HMP Dartmoor for the benefit of staff as well as the business requirements of the organisation.’

Mrs Oakes-Richards said: ‘When Andy advised me that I had won an award, I was stunned. As a governor, I aspire to find ways to help my staff do things better and to further develop their knowledge and skills.

‘This award allows me to showcase the great work that goes on in our prisons each and every day in protecting the public and helping prisoners to make positive changes in their lives. It is a privilege to lead a learning community such as HMP Dartmoor and I am humbled that my staff have nominated me.’