AWARD WINNER 2023-24: As Catering Manager at HMP Wealstun, Neil’s Award is for transforming not only the prison’s food, but also, through his caring, patient, and inspirational approach, the lives and wellbeing of those he employs – who include, at his insistence, some of the most vulnerable and challenging men in the jail.
[Neil also receives the POA Award for outstanding work by a Prison Officer.]

Neil’s nomination

Initial Recommendation

Neil was initially recommended by: Helen Bates (Head of Residence, HMP Wealstun).

Neil Mackintosh is the Catering Manager at HMP Wealstun. He is responsible for functional leadership of the Catering department, its workforce and prisoner working parties who are employees within the kitchen whilst undertaking NVQ 1 & 2 Cookery for the Catering Industry qualifications.

Neil has strong leadership behaviours. He is a committed, motivated leader, and is resilient and innovative in his drive to deliver the very best for prisoners, staff and visitors. His passion for the role is outstanding; he truly believes that teaching prisoners how to cook is not only an essential life skill but can also lead to employment on release within the hospitality sector.

Neil has created a huge sense of community amongst prisoners and staff in the kitchens making positive change to peoples mental well-being, life skills and overall morale. His caring, patient, non-judgmental approach to everyone he meets ensures he stands out from others.

Neil is a strategic thinker who uses his initiative to develop ideas into projects. This is evident within the “Field to Fork Enterprise” where he is working in partnership with Farms and Gardens to grow our own produce to use within the kitchens. This in turn enables prisoners to eat what they sow. This year Neil recognised the key products that were likely to increase in cost due to inflation, ensuring these were chosen for home growing by our Farms & Gardens team. The prison is benefiting from the savings, whilst serving fresh homegrown produce.

Constantly working above and beyond his job description, Neil oversees the visits tea bar for prison visitors, ensuring prices are reasonable and respectful of the cost of living whilst generating income that is fed straight back to prisoners. Neil engages with prisoners and visitors to inform the choices served, ensuring they are healthy and varied, last year raising over £9.000. This money was reinvested into prisoner welfare improving the experience of those held in custody. This year to date we have purchased exercise yard gym equipment, new tumble dryers and clothing for those prisoners due to be discharged that have no personal clothing.

Neil breaks down community barriers in sharing projects that champion the cultural importance and pleasures associated to food and cooking. He recognises that encouraging prisoners to cook their traditional recipes and dishes, supported by his kitchen team, promotes a wide understanding of different cultures and groups within the prison population. Recently, prisoners from the Gypsy Roman Traveller Community cooked their own traditional stew, Muslim prisoners helped prepare meals throughout Ramadan and EID, and the food was then shared across the prisoner population, creating community, and shared understanding of different foods and cultures.

His compassionate, calm, and caring nature are evident in his ability to work with our most vulnerable and chaotic prisoners, often giving them a safe space to distract their thoughts of self-harm. He allocates each prisoner a kitchen staff mentor who will complete regular well-being conversations as well as monitoring their workplace performance and development.

His staff group are a motivated, high performing team. Acting as a role model, he has instilled positivity in his team amplifying a culture of good professional staff/prisoner relationships, creating an environment where positive relationships can flourish through teamwork, empowering individuals, improving their self-esteem and confidence through regular feedback and praise.

Neil is committed to promoting learning and education, recognising its value in reducing re-offending. He has successfully secured the investment from The CLINKS kitchen charity to provide a full-time tutor to work with 16 learners providing Level 1 and 2 Cookery for the Catering Industry as well as working collaboratively with NOVUS to ensure prisoners gain recognised qualifications, giving many prisoners the opportunity to seek employment on release.

Neil just makes it happen! He is a remarkable colleague.

Testimonials (from HMP Wealstun)

Neil’s nomination included the following testimonials:

Neil is a highly valued member of staff, who is heavily involved in our staff wellbeing committee at HMP Wealstun – voluntarily so. Despite his demanding full-time role, Neil is committed to driving forward our wellbeing strategy and uses his initiative to do so, exceptionally well. Neil is not only brilliant at producing ideas and offering suggestions for staff wellbeing events, but also kindly offers his own time and resources to facilitate these events and see them through to completion In environments like ours, staff wellbeing is crucial, and Neil’s actions have undoubtedly impacted our staff positively – be it giving them a well-deserved rest from their frontline operational roles or using his catering abilities to encourage staff to interact and socialise with one another.
Chelsea Harrison People Hub Manager

Neil has an empathetic and calm persona. I often work closely with Neil when dealing with some of our most chaotic prisoners, to adapt and create strategies to support and structure the expectations of prisoners with different needs. Neil is excellent at listening and gifts each person he comes across with a genuine feel of positivity. Neil understands and knows that prisoners make mistakes. Neil will often accept apologies and give some of the prisoners a second or sometimes third chance to prove themselves, helping many men achieve a more rehabilitative mindset.
Ryan Gale, Safety Supervising Officer

Neil is tireless in his efforts in addressing and raising awareness about issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion in all things food related. Through Covid Neil worked to offer faith and cultural celebrations through food as prisoners were unable to get together as a community to celebrate and introduced a Monday meal choice that has either a cultural or faith meaning to celebrate cultural differences which due to popularity has continued.
Katherine Dealtry, Equalities and Diversity Lead

I would like to nominate Neil Mackintosh for this award as he is an excellent person to be around and brings good teamwork together and helped me with a lot of catering skills since I’ve been a prisoner at Wealstun and also there have been times when I had to take time off the kitchen regarding my mental health and Neil’s never given up on me he’s always given me a second chance and for me has been very supportive and he has time for every individual and makes sure everyone’s safety hygiene is always up to high standards I think Mr Mackintosh deserves this award for his care good teamwork and respect.
AW (prisoner)

Neil is a forward thinker and a very motivated individual who is always coming up with new ideas to improve the kitchen and is someone that is always ready to collaborate. Neil supports his staff, the prisoners as well as the clink kitchen program. With his skills he has made the kitchen an incredibly stable and well working environment. I have personally seen how he interacts with the prisoners to give them the stability and structure they need to thrive, both during the course and after graduation. I have witnessed him continue to inspire prisoners who may be falling off course. he identifies prisoners with one year left on their sentences that work within the clink kitchen project to become team leaders within the kitchen. He is kind and considerate to all he interacts with. Working with Neil is a pleasure and he is an inspirational person, he is an integral part of the kitchen. His work has contributed to our success within Wealstun, hence our high numbers compared to other prisons within the clink program.
Rudy Lynch, the Clink Kitchens

I have returned to this prison again and Mr Mackintosh the Catering manager has taken me in again once he found out I was at this prison, which he has a couple of times now. I hope I don’t disappoint him while I am here as I have always got on with all the caterers and I am a trained chef on the out where I do work in the hospitality sector, I got my qualifications in prison at what is now H M P Ever Thorpe and have always worked in prison kitchens when I come back to prison, but I always feel like a prisoner everywhere else but here at Wealstun where they always make me feel like an employee, You can feel that the staff are of the same as Neil for making the kitchen an enjoyable day where you feel you’re not in prison. This is the only prison kitchen that the staff and Neil make me feel like I am individual, making me want to come to work and do a good job.
SS (prisoner)

Sign off

The nomination was signed off by the Governor, Diane Lewis.

Neil is pivotal to the wellbeing of both prisoners and staff at HMP Wealstun. As catering manager Neil works within the very tight confines of his budget to provide the best possible nutritional meals for the 856 men in our care, always seeking imaginative and forward thinking ideas in which to improve variety and quality such as the “field to fork enterprise” which engages prisoners working in Farms and Gardens as well as kitchen workers in producing and serving quality homegrown food, giving them the opportunity to further develop skills that improve their resettlement opportunities on release.

Neil encourages and welcomes some of our most vulnerable and sometimes chaotic prisoners to work in the kitchens, where they thrive in a work environment structured to support and develop, as evidenced by the testimony of AW, one of our most challenging prisoners. Neil’s ability to engage with and channel positivity into the lives of these individuals resulting in a reduction in their levels of self harm, challenging behaviour is a success story of which he should be, and we as an establishment are very proud.