CANTERBURY prison officer Paul Marsh has been named Resettlement Officer of the Year at the first national Prison Officer Awards ceremony.

More than 100 officers from 140 prisons in England and Wales were nominated in seven categories marking all areas of work.

The competition was narrowed to just three in each section before the winners were announced at a ceremony attended by the Director General of the Prison service, Martin Narcy and Prisons Minister Hilary Benn.

The award recognises Mr Marsh's contribution to a unique scheme of dealing with re-offenders. A survey had found the average inmate at Canterbury Prison had been inside at least five times and the prison was keen to break the “revolving doors” syndrome where prisoners could be back behind bars just two weeks after being released.

Many prisoners lose their accommodation, job and family on entering prison and without a support network and successful re-integration into the community are far more likely to re-offend.

The prison established the Short-Term Offender Project, which was developed with a variety of outside agencies, including the benefits agency, employment agency, police and social services.

The scheme has continued to grow and will now not only be operating in Canterbury and Thanet, but in Folkestone and Dover too.

Head of sentence management Dave Atkinson said: “Ninety-nine per cent of those asked to participate do so. We have just recently appointed a mentor co-ordinator to recruit, train and deploy mentors to support the prisoners upon their release with the lottery grant awarded to the Diocesan Council for Social Responsibility.

“I nominated Paul because we are a very small team and he has put in so much time and effort to ensure the project has been a success. Really he has been a one-man band, making it work and forging links with other agencies.”

Mr Marsh received an engraved rose bowl and a luxury weekend break for he and his wife.