Former HM Prison and Probation Service Chief Executive announced as New Bridge President
We are delighted to announce that Former HM Prison and Probation Service Chief Executive Michael Spurr has taken up the role of New Bridge President.
Michael worked in Prisons and Probation for 36 years, having joined as a Prison Officer at HMP Leeds in 1983. In 2000, he was appointed Area Manager for Prisons in the East of England Region before joining HM Prison Service Management Board as Director of Operations in 2003. In 2008, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer for the new National Offender Management Service (NOMS) which brought Prisons and Probation together in a single Agency. From 2010 to 2019 Michael was Chief Executive of NOMS - renamed HM Prison and Probation Service in 2016.
Michael was Vice President of the European Prison Association between 2012 and 2018, a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics between 2019 and 2021 and a board member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association between 2019 and 2021.
Michael was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014 in recognition of his work in Offender Management.
In addition to his new role as President of New Bridge, Michael is Chair of the Butler Trust, recognising exceptional work in Prisons and Probation and sharing good practice across the UK, and Chair of Whitechapel Mission which provides services to the homeless in East London.
Michael is not new to New Bridge, having endorsed New Bridge policies and procedures while working at NOMS. Michael has also attended New Bridge events over the years and spoke at the 60th anniversary event in 2016.
Of his new role as President, Michael says, “New Bridge Volunteers do an amazing job. They give up their time to support prisoners who have lost contact with the outside world and are struggling to cope.
“Through correspondence and visits they demonstrate our common humanity and provide hope. It is a huge privilege to become their President.”
Michael has stepped into the role of President alongside long-standing New Bridge Vice Presidents criminologist and television presenter David Wilson, and prison chaplain Jonathan Aitken.
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