#HiddenHeroes Day

Thank You #HiddenHeroes

First held in 2020, #HiddenHeroesDay is a national day, on 29 September each year, paying tribute to the #HiddenHeroes working in UK prisons, IRCs, probation and youth justice services.

#HiddenHeroes Day 2022 – 29.09.22

The third annual #HiddenHeroesDay, on 29 September 2022, was a chance to once again say thank you to all those who work in custodial and community justice settings across the UK, and to remind them that, while they may be largely hidden from public view, they are not forgotten.

You can see some highlights from the day on the @HiddenHeroes_UK Twitter account, and you can continue tweeting your own messages of thanks using the hashtag #HiddenHeroes. You can also find out below how the day has been marked in previous years.

On Twitter

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#HiddenHeroes Day 2021 – 29.09.21

After a hugely successful first #HiddenHeroesDay last year, #HiddenHeroesDay 2 began with the fantastic news that the #HiddenHeroes #CharityChallenge for Mental Health UK had already raised over £40,000, twice the original target, with yet more fundraising events taking place throughout the day itself.

The Butler Trust’s Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, marked the day with a visit to HMP & YOI Brinsford, after which she spoke to staff from the prison, together with colleagues from next door HMPs Oakwood and Featherstone, to express her personal gratitude to them, and their colleagues in custodial and community settings throughout the UK. Jo Farrar, Chief Executive of HMPPS, was also there and added her own thanks to staff and volunteers across the sector.

Among many others: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State, Dominic Raab; the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Keith Brown; and Keith Fraser, Chair of the Youth Justice Board; all shared their own messages support. While Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Naomi Long visited HMP Maghaberry and the Probation Board of Northern Ireland to express her thanks for the work of staff there.

There were messages of support and thanks too from colleagues, families, and friends across the country, as well as from ordinary members of the public, while managers up and down the country showed their appreciation in a host of different ways – there were flags flown, speeches made, gifts given, awards presented, games played, food served (including, at HMP Downview, some cakes made by the children at a local school), and lots (and lots) of chocolate… – the Governor of HMP Woodhill even unveiled a #HiddenHeroes garden dedicated to staff.

Meanwhile, our #HiddenHeroes were still raising money – including bake sales, sporting competitions, raffles, and even (at HMP Warren Hill) a sponsored fun run with staff dressed as superheroes – and by the end of the day the #CharityChallenge total had reached almost £70,000!

#HiddenHeroes Day 2020 – 29.09.20

On 29.09.20 prisons, probation offices and youth justice services up and down the country celebrated Thank you #HiddenHeroes Day, in tribute to the outstanding service of the #HiddenHeroes working in our prisons, IRCs, probation and youth justice services, especially during the covid-19 outbreak. They were joined on the day by Butler Trust Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at a special event at HMP Bullingdon.

In Words

Zoe Ball fired the starting gun on the first national #HiddenHeroesDay with a shoutout on her Radio 2 Breakfast Show – and we were off and running…

#HiddenHeroesDay was a chance for people to pay tribute to the usually unsung #HiddenHeroes who work in prisons, IRCs, probation and youth justice across the UK. And people grabbed the chance – literally hundreds of tweets would pour in all day from each corner of the Kingdom.

The Scottish Government’s Justice Minister Humza Yousaf sent support, as did Northern Ireland’s Minister of Justice Naomi Long, and the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation in England & Wales, Lucy Frazer. There was also a special thankyou – diolch – sent out across Wales, alongside proud tweets from Jo Farrar, CEO of HMPPS, the Head of Northern Ireland’s Prison Service Ronnie Armour, the Youth Justice Board’s Chair Keith Fraser, HMI Probation’s Chief Inspector Justin Russell, the National Chair and General Secretary of the POA, and the Association of YOT Managers.

Meanwhile, the Butler Trust’s Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, was at HMP Bullingdon, making her third of five #HiddenHeroes visits to prisons in six weeks. After touring the jail, she addressed staff, outside visits, telling them:
“It’s a real pleasure to be here today, in the Butler Trust 35^th Anniversary year, to share in your celebrations of the first national Hidden Heroes Day, in recognition of all that you and your colleagues do, on behalf of both the people in your care, and the public you serve so admirably.”

To further mark the occasion, Her Royal Highness unveiled the #HiddenHeroes artwork the Butler Trust had commissioned from artist and recent Award Winner, Nikki Dennington. Framed copies of her work, as well as flags, had been distributed throughout the estate – and could be seen proudly displayed in photographs and videos shared across social media during the day.

Using the hashtag #HiddenHeroesDay, we also heard from prisons and IRCs, local probation offices, Approved Premises and Community Payback Teams, and youth justice services, in each nation. There were enthusiastic messages, too, from a wide range of voluntary sector agencies and suppliers, as well as colleagues, families, and friends.

In a video tribute to staff, Duncan Craig OBE, of the charity Survivors Manchester, spoke for many:
“It’s such an honour to be able to have a group of people that you can absolutely call heroes in your life and as your colleagues.”

Beyond all the messages of thanks, managers up and down the country paid tribute to their staff with their own #HiddenHeroesDay events. There were speeches, flags were flown, and pictures unveiled – and the No. 1 at HMP Huntercombe was one of a number to send personalised cards to every member of staff. There was a chocolate treasure hunt, charity cake sales and raffles, quizzes, games, and ‘Bake Offs’ – HMP & YOI Bronzefield even had a trumpet player! Some canny prisons had secured local donations for their events, and HMP Pentonville landed some raffle prizes from Arsenal and one of their former goalkeepers, Bob Wilson. There were specially-produced badges, lanyards, mugs and pens to mark the occasion too – and lots, and lots of food. HMP Peterborough had popcorn, a sweetie cart and a chocolate fountain, and there were bacon-butties for breakfast, lunches and teas, cakes, biscuits, curries, pizzas, cookies, chocolates, snack packs, and ‘goody-bags’ galore.

Read just a handful of the messages and tweets collected on Twitter at @HiddenHeroesDay and on the HiddenHeroes.uk message board and it becomes very clear that, to those in the know, these heroes aren’t really hidden – and the feelings of mutual support, deeply felt gratitude, and sheer pride among colleagues across this sector is truly remarkable.

And Lexi Rayner, an Officer at Bullingdon, summed up what #HiddenHeroesDay meant to her and her colleagues:
“To have a day where people have gone, ‘we see you, you are not forgotten, this is for you’, it’s wonderful.”

In Tweets…

The breadth and depth of the response across the UK can be seen from the (literally) hundreds of tweets posted throughout the day. We’ve collected as many as we could find together on @HiddenHeroesDay.