Eithne Wallis's International Conference Speech (file size 104kb)

Paul Goggin's International Conference Speech (file size 76kb)

Probation 2004 International Conference (file size 121kb)

Innovation and best practice in probation work around the world were honoured on 29 January with the presentation in London of International Community Justice Awards.

Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal presented the awards during Probation 2004, the international conference hosted by the National Probation Service for England and Wales. Nine individuals and 10 organisations were among the winners and runners-up, representing probation work in the UK, Europe, Australasia and Africa.

Awards were made in 10 different categories, with the premier Pioneer awards going to Lesotho, the UK, Bulgaria and Estonia.

To view the Award winners, click here:

The finalists are as follows:-

Pioneer Individual

Ntsikeng Qhubu, Director of the Probation Service of Lesotho, for her successful efforts in introducing restorative justice in Lesotho and for her tireless campaigning for child welfare and child rights. As a result of her work, restorative justice has become integrated into the organisational fibre of the probation service and has gained broad support from the public and government officials.

Anne Haynes, administrator and director of the Cornwall Domestic Violence Forum, for her work in studying the best approaches to domestic violence in Minnesota and adapting them to the needs of the Cornwall Care Trust. She established what is now regarded as a premier domestic violence programme fostered inter-agency collaboration, raised money for the programme and undertook public and professional education. She has helped to develop the national accredited programme and training manual for the National Probation Service for England and Wales.

From left to right - Eithne Wallis, Director General National Probation Service 2001 - 30 Jan 2004, Ntsikeng Ohubu, Pioneer Individual Award winner, HRH Princess Royal

Pioneer Organisation

The Regional Fund IGA, a non-governmental organisation in Bulgaria, which since 1998 has established a pilot probation centre in the town of Pazardjik and, with the support of the British Council in Sofia, trained the country's first 20 probation officers. Its work has helped inform Bulgaria's first Probation Act and the development of a strategy to introduce probation throughout the country.

The Probation Service of Estonia, which was established in 1998 and in just five years has grown to be a countrywide service supervising over 6,500 offenders and offering a comprehensive range of programmes to the benefit of offenders and thereby to Estonian society.

From left to right - Eithne Wallis, Director General National Probation Service 2001 - 30 Jan 2004, Dimitar Rusinov, Pioneer Organisation Award winner, HRH Princess Royal

Outstanding Administrative Worker

Anita Taylor of Nottinghamshire Probation Area, for her ability to break new ground in a close partnership with colleagues. Together with the team manager, she has demonstrated a clear contribution to high performance, high morale and local partnership working of the Worksop and Retford probation team, which exemplifies best practice.

From left to right - Eithne Wallis, Director General National Probation Service 2001 - 30 Jan 2004, Anita Taylor, Outstanding Administrative Worker Award winner, HRH Proncess Royal

Outstanding Supporting Role

Dr Katalin Gönczöl, Ministerial Commissioner for Criminal Policy, Hungary, whose research into criminal justice has had a profound effect on criminal policy in her country and led to the reform of the entire probation service. A fellow countryman has called her the Mother of Probation.

Sandra McFarlane, of the Greater Manchester Probation Area, the founder of Pathfinder, an innovative computer-based programme which creates a framework for the comprehensive assessment of offenders' risk profiles. This system provides a faster, more accurate and more comprehenisive means of referring offenders to accredited rehabilitation programmes and substantially reducing re-offending in the Manchester area.

Outstanding Manager

Ingrid McCoid, Regional Director of Prison and Probation Initiatives, HMP Bristol is leading the South West regional strategy on resettlement, through a multi-agency team. She has already established significant projects for offenders leaving prison, particularly short-term prisoners, in the fields of employment and education, restorative justice, prolific offending and accommodation. She has successfully built partnerships between prison and probation by creating a culture of collaboration and has managed projects that allow community and state agencies to work together.

Ilona Kronberga, of the Probation Service of Latvia, who conceived the idea of a probation service in her country, helped draft the relevant legislation and organised a steering committee of government and municipal agencies which over three years turned the vision into a reality. Thanks to her vision, commitment to justice and management skills, the Latvian Probation Service began on October 1 2003.

Outstanding Campaigner

Dr Chris Marshall of Auckland, New Zealand, who has made the campaign for the cause of justice for all his life's work. An academic theologian with a special interest in community-based justice alternatives, he has been involved in a voluntary capacity in the development of restorative justice in New Zealand.

Rachel Martin, Domestic Violence Co-ordinator for Devon, has led the development of a multi-agency strategy to tackle domestic violence in Devon. In 12 months she helped to expand services significantly, undertaking multi-agency training, outreach work, a major consultation exercise with children and other work with survivors, minority ethnic communities and schools.

Breaking New Ground

The Probation Service of the Kanton of Zurich, Switzerland, which has developed the Zuricher Lernprogramme (ZLP), a special programme for offenders convicted of serious motoring offences such as drink-driving and dangerous driving, for domestic violence perpetrators and for those convicted of crimes against an individual. The ZLP includes standard assessment of offenders, a structured training programme and three post-intervention interviews to evaluate the impact of the training. Though still in its early days the ZLP is having a positive impact on re-offending.

Corrections Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, for its development of a suite of data-driven business management models which has transformed the service's ability to make sound business decisions about service delivery, to forecast need and to best allocate scarce resources.  This pioneering work in Melbourne has excited considerable interest from other Australian states.

Social Inclusion

Department of Prisons and Probation, Denmark, for its mentoring project, the intensive supervision of young offenders from minority ethnic backgrounds. The project links offenders aged between 15 and 25 with a mentor who will provide a positive role model and help them re-integrate into the community.

The Ancestral Trek Project, Probation and Parole Service, Sydney, Australia, which aims to reduce the rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal offenders and reduce re-offending. The project, operating on the Far South Coast of New South Wales, has revived an ancient tradition of trekking. Participants, men aged between 18 and 40, spend five days camping and trekking, guided by staff and knowledge holders from their own communities who teach them about Aboriginal identity and culture, in the hope of challenging and changing the attitudes which led to crime.

Merseyside Black Mentoring Scheme, a partnership between Merseyside Probation Area and Liverpool City Council, which aims to help black offenders successfully complete periods of community supervision, prison licence or parole and ensure they can easily access community facilities. The project employs qualified black mentors and also works with the most socially excluded minority racial groups such as asylum seekers and refugees.

Public Protection

IMPACT (Inclusive Model Partnership Against Car Theft) Belfast, Northern Ireland, which has contributed to a significant drop in the number of car thefts in the city. The project, led by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland, offers education programmes in schools and youth clubs, diversionary programmes for potential offenders and supervision of persistent offenders in the community and in prison. In IMPACT's first year car theft dropped by 58% and in its second year by 76%.

Early Intervention Project, St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth, a domestic violence programme, which is part of the city's crime and disorder strategy. The project began in August 2002 with trained staff based in the hospital's accident and emergency and maternity departments and available as soon as a patient disclosed an incident of domestic violence. Since its inception  similar services are now being developed in Southampton and West Sussex and the project was cited by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as an example of good practice in reducing homelessness.

Persistent Offending

The Tower Project, Blackpool, a multi-agency project which has had a significant impact on reducing re-offending. The project began in 2002 in an area where house burglary, theft from vehicles and street robbery were increasing by 30% annually, Tower focuses on drug-related crime as one of the main causes of persistent offending. Its key elements include drug treatment, inter-agency co-operation and information sharing. The Tower team includes staff from the Probation Service, Police, Crown Prosecution Service and NACRO.  Within a year crime reduced by over 30% and the project is now being replicated in other parts of Lancashire.

The Award Winners are:

Individuals

Outstanding administrative worker
1. Anita Taylor

Outstanding Supporting Role
1=   Katalina Gonczol
1=   Sandra Mcfarlane

Outstanding Manager
1. Ingrid McCoid
2. Ilona Kronberga

Outstanding Campaigner
1. Chris Marshall
2. Rachel Martin

Pioneer Individual
1. Ntsikeng Qhubu
2. Anne Haynes

Organisations

Breaking New Ground
1. Probation Service of the Kanton of Zurich,
2. Corrections Victoria

Social Inclusion
1. Prisons and Probation Denmark
2=  Ancestral Trek
2=  Merseyside Black Mentoring Service

Public Protection
1. Impact Belfast
2. Early Intervention

Persistent Offending
1. Tower Project

Pioneer Organisation
1. Regional Fund IGA
2. Probation Service of Estonia


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