THE first students to complete a new training course for probation officers will graduate today.
The 17 graduates will be presented with a diploma at Durham County Cricket Club, Chester-le-Street.
The diploma was launched in 1998 by Durham, Northumbria and Teesside probation services, which created a consortium to pioneer the course.
Students are employed by their separate services, but join up for studies at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle.
The course involves assessment of practical work, combined with study.
Today's graduates are: Anne Barker, Claire Charlton, Joseph Howard and Robert Renyard, of Durham Probation Service; Katherine Albiston, Richard Carr, Ivan Currie, Anne-Marie Cutter, Chinyelu Emeka-Oyolu, Gary Hardington, Melanie Turner and Claire Ward, of Northumbria Probation Service; and Andrew Ayodeji, Lisa Castleton, Katherine Horne, Elizabeth Scott and David Taylor, of Teesside Probation Service.
Ken Bellamy, of the North-East Probation Training and Development Consortium, said: "It is a huge achievement for both trainees and those who have worked to develop and deliver the diploma."
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