Eleven male and female Prison Officers have attended a week-long management level workshop, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, which is a requirement for promotion.
The training was facilitated by Adie Northeast, a trainer from Her Majesty’s Prison in Wandsworth, England. “It was all to do with management,” he told The Anguillian. “We were looking at how we manage staff; how we deal with staff that are performing; how we mentor and coach our staff; how we motivate them and other related management matters. The training gave them a qualification in management so they know where to take their staff at the Anguilla prison forward.”
Steve Fradley, the Overseas Territories Miami-based Prison Reform Coordinator, said in part: “This was a first line management course for the junior managers, a number of selected officers of potential at the prison. It was a five-day very basic management procedures and skills, designed to get them to look at their own strengths and weaknesses as individuals, and as a group, for the benefit of the prison… The UK trainer is very experienced in leading this type of programme and it was designed specifically for the prison in Anguilla.
“The final day of the course involved each participant presenting an assignment they were given, during the week, on a particular project…Each of the presentations will now lead to a piece of particular work in the prison for the benefit of the staff. That will be carried forward for the next few months. The course is the first step towards making the prison managers more professional at each level of operations.”
Prison Adviser, Vince Walker, said the middle management training was very important to help to take the prison forward. “We have been fortunate to get a good instructor from the UK to take them [staff] through all the management training, and now we look forward to them developing on this and improving the work of the prison,” he stated.
Allister Richardson, Training Officer at HM Prison in Anguilla, was grateful to Mr.Fradley for arranging the financing and delivery of the training, and to Mr. Northeast for conducting the workshop.
