A FIRM delivering education to inmates at two prisons in Warrington has won a contract to keep running the service from April.

Novus employs 125 people across education departments at HMP Risley, HMP Thorn Cross in Appleton Thorn as well as HMP Styal in Cheshire.

Peter Cox, Novus managing director, said: “We are delighted to confirm that we will continue our work with prisons in the region.

"This is really good news and our thanks go to the hard work and commitment of all those colleagues who provided support during the tendering process.

"At Novus, we firmly believe in the power of education to improve lives. As research has demonstrated, effective education supports the progression of ex-offenders into employment and this significantly reduces rates of reoffending.

“We are passionate about what we do, creating the foundations for change, and I’m excited that we can continue to work collaboratively with HMPPS to focus on improving rehabilitative outcomes that will benefit society.”

Novus have been delivering education in prisons for more than 25 years.

The idea behind the education is to get prisoners into educating and reduce reoffending when they leave prisons.