For the third successive year, colleagues from the Ingeus Justice team in the North East have been recognised for their outstanding work by the Nepacs Ruth Cranfield Awards. With the spotlights shining brightly this year on our CFO3 team and Ingeus Academy, we did a double take as both Case Manager Jill Anderson, and former volunteer Peer Mentor Linzi Storey, received Certificates of Excellence.
Since 2005, the awards have recognised professional and voluntary workers supporting people leaving the criminal justice system in the region, helping them to reintegrate into society and reduce reoffending. With very different stories to tell and skills to offer, Jill and Linzi perfectly encapsulate the empathy, enthusiasm and determination it takes to help people who have largely lost hope in themselves and those around them. Helen Judge, Area Director of Prisons and Probation for North East, Yorkshire and Humber, presented the accolades at an awards event held at Durham County Cricket Emirates Riverside on 13 September. She said: “I am thrilled to be celebrating the brilliant work that has been recognised at these awards. People working in criminal justice are changing lives every day in a hugely challenging context, often quietly and behind closed doors. I am glad that they are getting their well-deserved moment in the spotlight… Their work is helping to keep communities safer and giving hope for the future.”
For everyone attending, it was an opportunity to meet other rehabilitation workers and share in their joint success. For Linzi, the acknowledgement of her ‘excellence’ was particularly poignant having first- hand experience of battling alcohol addiction and rebuilding her life following a suspended prison sentence. “It was incredible to be nominated, and then to be recognised in this way is unbelievable for me. Thank you to the probation and Ingeus staff for their continued support, and for always believing in me,” says Linzi, who was one of the first women in the Durham area to complete Ingeus peer mentor training, volunteering to support other people on probation.
Since then, she’s become a literacy mentor, has delivered training, and co-wrote a theatrical production to help new service users embrace change. She now works full-time for Ingeus as a Personal Wellbeing Mentor: “That criminal conviction, that addiction, doesn’t define who you are as a person, and I want to use my lived experience to give people hope that they can turn their lives around.” Meanwhile Jill, a Case Manager working with people on probation who need intensive, face-to-face support with accommodation, health, debt, and employment issues, was praised by her manager for her constant care, compassion and empathy. Her nomination included a quote from someone she’s supporting through probation who said: “When you have no one in your life to support you, I don’t think you realise just how much phone calls and support mean to people like me.” Congratulations to Linzi, Jill, and everyone recognised in the 2024 Nepacs Ruth Cranfield Awards.
