Prisons’ Minister Paul Goggins today paid tribute to the work of the Prison Service Trust in supporting staff that have left the Service, as well as dependent family members of deceased staff. He was speaking as he formally opened the new Prison Service Trust (PST) Office in Coleraine. It is the first office opened by the PST outside of their headquarters, which is located in the grounds of Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre and Prison.

The Drop-In Centre, which will be manned on a daily basis by retired staff on a volunteer basis, will in particular serve its clients in the North-West and provide a convenient location for them.

The Minister welcomed the opening of the new office stating;

“The Prison Service Trust has achieved a great deal in its six years of operation and I am pleased to re-iterate the Government’s commitment to the Trust’s work by providing funding of almost £600,000 for the next two years.

“The people of Northern Ireland owe the Prison Service a tremendous debt of gratitude for their dedication and commitment over many years in the most difficult of circumstances. Twenty-nine members of staff were murdered, while hundreds more were injured or intimidated.

“It is very evident from my visit here today, and from my past visits to the Hydebank Wood Centre, that the Trust makes an important contribution through its wide range of services. With Magilligan Prison located in the North-West it not surprising that many of the Trust’s clients are from this area and I commend the members and directors for their vision and insight in creating a base in this location. It has been a difficult journey at times but your efforts have been rightly rewarded with the opening today of this new accommodation.”

The Minister also used the occasion to pay a special tribute to the memory of Mabel Hempton, a former Director of the Prison Service Trust, who died in March of this year. In April 1979 Mabel and three of her prison officer colleagues were ambushed by the IRA as they left Armagh Prison. One of her colleagues was killed in the attack, while Mabel and her other colleagues were seriously injured. Mabel was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life and suffered great pain on a daily basis, but she dedicated her life to the Prison Service Trust when it became operational in 2003.


The Minister said;

“It was a privilege for me to meet Mabel on a previous visit to the Prison Service Trust and I know that, despite her suffering, she was a tireless worker for the organisation. It was a mark of her character that she always put others before herself. It is fitting that her name should be remembered on this occasion and I offer my sympathy to members of her family and her colleagues in the Trust. Today would have been a proud day for her had she been alive, but her name and memory lives on through the Prison Service Trust.”


Notes to Editors

1. The PST was established in 2002 and started operating in 2003 in order to address the needs of the wider Prison Service family, including:

• Widows/widowers
• Dependants of murdered staff
• Dependants of those who have died in service
• Medically retired staff
• Dependants of medically retired staff

2. The Trust provides a range of services that are designed to help those within the client group cope better with the challenges of life. It continues to deliver the following three main types of services:

• Health care, encouraging physical and emotional well-being.
• Life planning, incorporating education, career and financial planning.
• Support services, promoting welfare, family and social contact.

3. The new Prison Service Trust office is located at River House, Castle Lane, Waterside, Coleraine. Before unveiling a plaque to officially open the centre, Minister Goggins met Directors and staff and visited classes in computers and arts/crafts, which were being attended by widows and medically retired staff.

4. For photographs contact Seamus Loughrey on 07770833830.

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