Celebrating 20 years of service to the community

February 5, 2025

HMP Peterborough, operated by Sodexo, is a major employer in the Cambridgeshire area and holds the unique position of being the only purpose-built prison to house both male and female offenders. This year marks a significant milestone as it is 20 years since the prison opened and began serving the community.

Over the past 20 years, HMP Peterborough has provided rehabilitative services to help to men and women reduce their risk of reoffending and the associated impact on victims of crime. Partnerships with local and national businesses enables the prison to create employment opportunities on release, providing support for prison leavers to secure meaningful jobs and become productive members of society.

Situated in the Westwood area of the city of Peterborough, the prison is built on an historic site that was once the home of an RAF training base, where the legendary Clark Gable was stationed. It later became the location for Baker Perkins when expansion outside of London was required, eventually being transformed into HMP Peterborough. The prison was officially opened on 04 March 2005, receiving the first male prisoner a few weeks later, on 28 March 2005.

Visit the prison

During our celebratory month of March, we would also like to extend an invitation to members of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce to book a visit to come and see HMP Peterborough from ‘behind the wall’.

We would be delighted to show you the work that is delivered to support the rehabilitative journey, including providing key skills such as English and maths.

During your visit we can also introduce you to our Prison Employment Leads, who can provide you with information on Sodexo’s ‘Starting Fresh’ programme. Through this we can show you how accessing the almost untapped resource of prison leavers can help to address skills gaps, enabling you to provide opportunities to individuals who want to take a positive step into a productive future.

If you are interested in arranging a visit to the prison, please contact Hayley Wells, PA to the Director on hayley.wells@sodexogov.co.uk

Support our celebration

As part of the celebrations to mark 20 years of serving the community, we are inviting members of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce to support our valued colleagues.

Prison officers play many roles – from rule enforcer to shoulder to cry on, welfare support to first responder, fire fighter to confidant. No two days are the same and they are required to work with some very challenging, complex individuals. They change and save lives on a daily basis, helping to re-build family connections and providing encouragement to people who may have spent their entire lives being rejected or made to feel ‘less than’.

Our non-officer colleagues play crucial roles in delivering services that directly contribute to the reduction in offending behaviours, be that through sentence planning or delivery of educational programmes, administrative functions and specialist services that ensure that the prison runs smoothly.

We would like to provide our valued colleagues with a celebration that is reflective of their dedication to safeguarding their community, people and places.

Can you help to support our event?

To provide our colleagues with a truly celebratory event, we are looking to secure support from members of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce that will create a real party sensation.

The main elements of the event on Saturday 29 March have been confirmed, so we are seeking ways to enhance the evening – can you sponsor any elements to add sparkle to the evening?

We’re looking for enhancements such as:

• Caricature artist
• Table magicians
• Sweet trolley

We’re also looking for raffle prizes to give our colleagues a treat and show recognition of their dedication and commitment.

Supporting staff on shift

As a 24/7 operation, some of our colleagues won’t be able to attend the celebration party as they will be working to maintain safety, security and decency at HMP Peterborough.

We are particularly keen to reach out to local restaurants who would be prepared to offer vouchers to our colleagues who will be working, enabling them to enjoy a treat when off shift.

We are aware that the month of March is also Ramadan, so we would be very pleased to hear from any Halal restaurants willing to provide vouchers for those colleagues who will be observing the fast and therefore unable to participate in the party.

If you would like to support us and can sponsor any of the above services – or other services that you are able to share – please contact Niki Audsley, Communications Manager on nicola.audsley@sodexogov.co.uk