Dumfries prison boss Andrew Hunstone declared the first recruitment drive in eight years a huge success.
A total of 11 possible candidates turned up on Saturday morning to HMP Dumfries in Terregles Street following an advertising campaign throughout the country by the Scottish Prison Service.
Mr Hunstone said: “The last time we had a recruitment drive was in 2014 and this one has gone really well.
“We have 11 potential candidates who have come in and shown an interest in employment within the prison service at HMP Dumfries.
“And to get that many from different localities within the region and spreading the net is really, really good.”
The candidates were given a brief tour following presentations by Mr Hunstone and Stewart Pomfret, head of offender outcomes, and shown the reception area where prisoners are booked in on arrival at the unit.
They also saw a woodwork area where prisoners create various gifts for the community including play items for primary schools plus squirrel and bird boxes all made from wooden pallets.
Candidates were also shown the extensive garden area at the back of the prison where inmates grow vegetables and have constructed a Men’s Shed and memorial garden.
There are also solar panels where a football pitch once stood.
Mr Pomfret said: “We are trying to reduce our carbon footprint with the solar panels.
“We have 1300 trees growing in the polly tunnels and we are going to be given more by Dumfries and Galloway (Council), and will take 180 trees to plant in their school grounds.
“It was going to be part of marking the Queen’s Jubilee, plant a tree in the jubilee project, but the King (Charles) wants us to plant trees in memory of the Queen and probably 200 will be planted by the end of October.”
“The role of a prison officer is very unique.”
