Wiltshire Probation Celebrates 100 years of Service
This year the Probation Service is celebrating a century of service – one hundred years helping to reduce crime, protect the public and rehabilitate offenders.
The centenary was celebrated in Wiltshire at Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday June 14. Probation staff past and present, their families and members of the public took part in a service recognising a hundred years of vital work, safeguarding the public and changing lives for the better.
The service included a short play by probation staff who acted out the Prodigal Son parable to represent the work of rehabilitating offenders who have seen the errors of their ways.
Earlier in the afternoon staff from Probation offices in Chippenham, Trowbridge, Swindon, Salisbury and Dorset had come together for a celebratory picnic and games.
Diana Fulbrook, Chief Officer for Wiltshire Probation, and Martin Copsey, Chief Officer of Dorset Probation marked the occasion by cutting a special anniversary cake made by the Rowde school for children with special needs. The cake was decorated with little hand–made icing people, made to look like staff and offenders from the last 100 years.
“The centenary celebrations are of huge importance. The Probation Service has stood the test of time and proved itself to be of enormous value,” said Diana Fulbrook, Chief Officer of Wiltshire Probation.
“The cathedral is an excellent venue for us, signifying the roots of the Probation Service, and the ceremony will emphasize the values underlying the work we do.”
The Probation Service in England and Wales is one of the oldest in the world – and widely viewed as the best. Minister Hilary Benn described it as a ‘hidden jewel.’
It can trace its roots back to the Church of England Temperance Society in the late 19th century when missionaries were appointed to the London Police Courts to reclaim drunkards, and later, other offenders. This led to a system of releasing offenders on the condition that they kept in touch with the missionary and accepted guidance.
Then in 1907, a century ago, the first Probation Officers were appointed under the Probation of Offenders Act 1907.
“In some ways life in this day and age is very different to life when the Probation Service was set up, but in other fundamental ways things are just the same,” said Diana Fulbrook “We still need organisations such as ours to move and change people and to help build up the fabric of society.”
The role of Probation Officers has evolved and developed over the years, with Community Service (Unpaid Work) becoming an alternative sentencing option to prison in 1972, the introduction of hostels in the 1980’s to increase public protection and supervision of dangerous offenders.
Although the work has grown, Probation’s core values have remained unchanged – to help offenders turn their backs on offending behaviour through effective support.
Staff from both Wiltshire and Dorset Probation Areas took part in the service.
