COMMENDEE 2023-24: Anita, a Senior Officer at HMP Maghaberry, is granted a Commendation for her commitment and compassion towards each and every person in the jail, and for her capacity to build rapport with even the hardest-to-reach individuals, leading her Governor to say, “I wish I had a hundred of her”.

Anita’s nomination

Initial Recommendation

Anita was initially recommended by: K Magennis (Learning and Skills, HMP Maghaberry).

I would like to nominate Senior Officer Anita Payne to be recognised by the Butler Trust for the outstanding commitment she has shown in her role within the Activities area of Maghaberry Prison. Anita has been instrumental in working collaboratively with partner agencies on a number of key initiatives around the rehabilitation of the men in her care.

The two most recent initiatives involved the redesign/refurbishment of a garden area within the Prison which is to be used by the most vulnerable population with the Prison and the second saw a first ever for a Custodial environment anywhere in the UK, a marathon relay event which was sanctioned by the Belfast Marathon management committee as a live event.

Garden Area – Anita entered into this initiative with the sole intention of giving the most vulnerable members of the prison community an area within which they could enjoy time outdoors in the fresh air. Anita is very well aware of the benefits to an individual’s mental health of spending time outdoors and I believe that this knowledge helped her to see the benefit to others of her engagement in improvements.

The improvements included a number of stimulating areas in the garden such as areas for smell, touch and sight as well as areas to attract insects/wildlife into the area, to help the environment.

I recall a conversation I had with Anita at the start of the work around barriers which she felt she would encounter and how she planned to get the work done, as the benefit to the men far outweighed the potential logistical difficulties that come with a High Security Prison environment. Anita attended for duty on rescheduled rest days to ensure that the materials for the job were delivered on time and were fully accounted for, whilst also encouraging the men from the various workshops to take full advantage of the opportunity to get ‘real time’ work placement.

I found it refreshing to see her interaction with the men and witnessing her pleasant easy going demeanour coming to the fore when being challenged was extremely pleasing. The improvements for the men in the care of NIPS would not be achievable without the level of inspiration and tenacity demonstrated by Anita to make this initiative a success. As stated previously, Anita was willing to alter plans in her own personal life to enable her to attend and ensure full buy in from those involved.

Marathon – Once again Anita entered into this initiative with a level of inspiration which is not often captured within the custodial environment. Her absolute commitment to see the men involved succeed was infectious and led to all of the Prison teams finishing in the top 285 out of 1817 teams. Indeed, the event was placed on the NIPS twitter feed and achieved the most views of any topic posted to date, achieving some 30,000 views such was the public interest.

This for me epitomised what Anita is about. She had to liaise with various other agencies and arrange logistics around an event which had never before been achieved before in a custodial environment in the UK whilst still carrying out her other responsibilities and arranging her personal life around attendance. This additional attendance included weekends when family time for prison staff can be precious.

I believe that the inspiration which Anita provides daily to the men in her care, goes above and beyond the role of a Prison Officer in terms of rehabilitation and encouraging men to make smart choices which deserves external recognition from an organisation such as the Butler Trust.

Additional information (from HMP Maghaberry)

HMP Maghaberry provided the following additional testimony in support of Anita’s nomination:

Anita’s role as Senior Officer within activities is not without its challenges. Anita manages purposeful activity for not only an ever-increasing population but a diverse population. Anita’s recommendation outlines the great work that Anita does within her business area. I spoke with prisoners that had been involved in the first ever marathon that linked in with Belfast city marathon and they fed back:

“Anita goes over and above to look at ways to motivate prisoners and get them engaged in activity. Anita is not influenced by our offence but is motivated to encourage us to change and address our offending behaviour. Having the opportunity to do the marathon and raise money for air ambulance really encouraged us all and made us feel we were giving back and contributing. Anita made us feel part of and not apart from the community.”

The above statement is powerful. Anita has demonstrated how she works with prisoners and partners to deliver against the Northern Ireland Prison Service five strand approach to rehabilitation. Working with our people, Anita brought our gym staff on board to support planning, our services and our partnerships; Anita worked with partners in Belfast Metropolitan College and also Belfast city marathon organisers. Anita also worked with security to plan the route across a category A prison and finally our contribution, raising funds for Northern Ireland Air ambulance.

This was a huge success for our prisoners, providing activity. It fed through to our community how prisoners can give back and this in turn improves public perception. This was the most tweeted article for NIPS so far in 2023

Anita is an inspiration to her peers and a motivator for those men in our care to change. This change ultimately reduces risk of reoffending and creates safer communities.

Anita is an exemplary Senior Officer.

Sign off

The nomination was signed off by the Governor, David Savage.

I have considered many applications over my time both as Governor of Maghaberry and when I completed the role of Local Champion for the prison for several years. Anita would be one of few that stands out of the crowd for the work that she does – as evidenced nationally in the BBC broadcast of a multiple programme series about Maghaberry prison and the life stories of the men detained here.

Anita has been mentioned specifically for her work within the Marathon concept and within the redevelopment of a prison garden – many in the prison raised an eyebrow and poured scorn on such initiatives but fail to see the positive outcomes men can achieve and indeed how it can unlock potential in them to desist from offending and begin a journey of rehabilitation.

Anita is a prison officer at heart and has developed a rapport with almost every prisoner within the large population – she knows them by name and knows their life stories. She has a huge heart and cares passionately about those men placed in her charge but more importantly she understands the effects a custodial sentence can have on the families of the imprisoned person. It is this knowledge and understanding that was behind the Marathon Concept – where men could be part of the entire community taking part in a marathon and give back to their communities through charity – or through the garden redesign – where she ensured men got transferable skills that can assist in future employment outside of the prison on release but also ensured that the work they were doing left a legacy and facility for those prisons coming behind them.

Plaudits are heaped on staff all the time and I could do this to Anita, but the best praise I can give her is that I wish I had a hundred of her  working for me.