PORSCH is a Network free of charge to those committed to the promotion of research and service development for the improvement of the health of offenders, the enhancement of the communities in which they live and the reduction of offending behaviours. Network activities are planned and delivered by the Management Group and its Officers, overseen by the Advisory Board, and resourced by the Supporters. The Constitution is set out at the foot of this page.
Supporters
Funding and facilities for network activities are provided by the following PORSCH Supporters:
Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust Specialist Services
Durham University Department of Sociology
NHS England & NHS Improvement, Health and Justice Commissioners (North East & Yorkshire)
Newcastle University Population Health Sciences Institute
North East Prison Group HMPPS
Northumbria University Criminology
Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
Spectrum Community Health CIC
Sunderland University Centre of Applied Social Studies and DISCRIM Network
Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust Offender and Forensic Community Services
York University CrimNet
Supporters are represented on both the Advisory Board and the Management Group. The Network is grateful for this support without which PORSCH's important work would not be sustained.
Advisory Board
The PORSCH Advisory Board supports the development of the network and ensures that the Chair and Management Group discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the PORSCH dedication and aims. Membership of the Advisory Board is by invitation of the Management Group with the support of the Advisory Board Chair. It meets at least once a year. Its current members are:
Alan Tallentire OBE (Chair), Former Prison Group Director, Tees and Wear
Revd. Katherine Brooke, Chaplain, HMP Holme House
Dr Brian Docherty, former GP HMP Durham
Dr Linda Harris, CEO Spectrum Community Health CIC
Jill Maehle, Barrister Consultant in Mental Health, Mental Capacity, Community Care & Human Rights Law
Prof Cynthia McDougall, Professor of Forensic Psychology University of York
Dr Gail McGregor, Consultant Psychologist
Rachel Morphew, Lead Psychologist NOMS Public Sector Prisons North East and Yorkshire
Dr Rajesh Nadkarni, Executive Medical Director and Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry, Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Trust (alternate Prof Eilish Gilvarry, Consultant Psychiatrist in Addiction Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, and Hon. Professor in Addiction Psychiatry Newcastle University)
Professor Dorothy Newbury-Birch, Professor of Alcohol and Public Health Research, Teesside University
DI Adam Norris, Durham Constabulary
Dr Sarah Pearce, former Consultant Physician, Co. Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Jessica Redhead, Head of Commissioning, NHS England Health & Justice (Cumbria & North East)
Heather Rice, Director of Research and Innovation, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
Helen Richardson, Director of Nursing and Quality, Spectrum CIC
Louise Ridley, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Northumbria University
Lisa Taylor, Director of Operations, Forensic Services, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Graham Towl, Professor of Psychology, Durham University
Simon Walters, Director North East Prison Group
The Network Chair, Research Coordinator and Workshop Support Officer also attend
Management Group
The Management Group plans and supervises Network’s activities and resources and reports to the Advisory Board. It meets at least four times a year (with additional officers meetings). Membership includes representatives of Supporters and is open to any member of the PORSCH Network. If you would like to join the Group, please contact the Network Chair via the contracts page. The current members are:
Paul Alderton, Health and Justice Commissioning Manager (North Specialised Commissioning Team)
Alice Bennett, Forensic Psychologist, HMP Frankland
Chris Carson, North East Prison Group HMPPS
James Churchman, Forensic Psychologist, HMP Holme House
Dr Moj Feshki, Consultant Psychiatrist Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS FT
John Fisher, Network Coordinator & Prisons Co-lead, CrimNet, University of York
Jen Ferguson, Graduate Tutor and Research Associate PRISM-A, Teesside University
Jenna Grocott, Research Lead for Health & Justice, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Abi Hamoodi, Health and Justice Specialist, NHS England
Dr Alison Hodgson, Consultant Forensic Psychologist, Primrose Clinical Lead, HMP & YOI Low Newton
Leona Hunter, Senior Psychologist, NE and Yorkshire Prisons
Darren Johnson, Lecturer in Psychology, Newcastle University
Dr Hannah King, Associate Professor in Criminology, Durham University
Tracey Lowry, Lead Clinical Research Nurse, Spectrum Community Health CIC
Natalie Maidment, Local Development Officer North East, CLiNKS
Dr Annette McKeown, Consultant Forensic Psychologist, Cumbria, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Ollie O’Mara, Consultant Clinical Psychologist Forensic CAMHS, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS FT
Joe Peterson, Age UK Regional Manager for Prisons, AgeUK North Tyneside
Dr Stephanie Scott, Senior Research Fellow, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University
Ian Thorpe, Nurse Consultant in Forensic & Speciaist Services, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS FT
Dr Angela Wilcock, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Sunderland University
Dr Julie Young, Lecturer in Nutrition Enterprise and Outreach, Newcastle University
And the PORSCH officers:
Prof Graham Towl, (Chair), Professor of Psychology at Durham University (DU) and visiting clinical professor at Newcastle University.
Dr Wendy Dyer (Co-Research Co-ordinator), Associate Professor in Criminology, Northumbria University
Dr Jon Carey (Co-Research Co-ordinator), Associate Lecturer, Northumbria University
Dr Joanne McGrath (Network Co-ordinator), Post Doctoral Research Associate, Durham University
Loree Moran Wilson (Workshop Support Officer), Make Your Way CIC
Officers
Network Chair: represents the Network and its interests in academic, policy and practice communities, chairs the meetings of the Management Group, and works with the Network Coordinator and Research Coordinators to sustain the Network. The Chair is elected by the Management Group and overseen by the Chair of the Advisory Board. The current network chair, appointed in August 2024, is Professor Graham Towl.
Graham Towl is Professor of Forensic Psychology at Durham University. Since arriving at Durham in 2008 he has undertaken a number of roles including Pro Vice Chancellor (2011-2016) and Principal of St Cuthberts Society (2008-2011) and also acting Principal at University College (2019-2020). Prior to his arrival back to the North East he was Chief Psychologist at the Ministry of Justice (2005-2008). When he was Head of Psychological Services for England and Wales at HMPPS (2000-2005) he grew the psychological staff group from 400 to over 1000 to include practitioner psychologists, trainee practitioners and psychological assistants. He was an expert member of the influential Harris Review (2015) into self inflicted deaths of 18-24 year olds in prisons and undertook an analysis of all self inflicted deaths on record between 1978 and 2013. Uniquely he is the recipient of the British Psychological Society Awards for distinguished practice – he is HCPC registered – and also distinguished contributions to forensic psychological knowledge. His work on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion led to his inclusion in Who’s Who? He is widely published with his latest books on gender based violence in Higher Education and sexual harassment in African countries. His next book, with Clarissa DiSantis is due out in March, 2025 – it is the second edition of the ground breaking ‘Addressing Student Sexual Violence at Universities’ first published in 2020. Over the coming year he intends working (with David Crighton) on a 4th edition of the British Psychological Society endorsed ‘Forensic Psychology’ textbook – widely read amongst cohorts of trainee forensic psychologists since the first edition in 2008. Formerly he was a council member of the HCPC and Chaired registration appeals. Currently he is Chair of the Scottish Advisory Panel on Offending and Rehabilitation (SAPOR). He currently teaches two modules at Durham University – ‘Criminological psychology’ and ‘psychological practice’. In his spare time he trains his dogs – currently a rottweiler and standard poodle.
(The previous Network Chair was Professor Andrew Gray. He provides research, development and teaching services through 'Academic Services for Public Management', and is Emeritus Professor in Public Management at Durham University, Honorary Professor in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Nottingham University, and Fellow of the Joint University Council for Applied Social Sciences.)
Network Co-ordinator: is responsible for managing the network’s communications, events, meetings and office. The current Network Co-ordinator is Dr Joanne McGrath, Post Doc Research Fellow, Durham University. Joanne previously worked at Crisis UK and has an interest in research with marginalised communities. She gained her PhD at Northumbria University.
Research Co-ordinators: responsible for facilitating and liaising with research and development projects with which PORSCH is associated. The current Research Coordinators are Dr Wendy Dyer and Dr Jon Carey. Wendy is Associate Professor in Criminology at Northumbria University. She gained her PhD for research into diversion and liaison, contributed evidence to the Bradley Review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, and continues to conduct research into health and social care services for offenders. Jon has been a long serving community psychiatric nurse and is now Associate Lecturer at Northumbria University. He gained his PhD from Durham University and specialises in mental health assessment tools.
Workshop Support Officer: provides administrative assistance at workshops (registration functions, venue liaison). The current Workshop Support Officer is Loree Moran-Wilson who runs Make Your Way CIC, a social enterprise based in Newcastle and Sunderland that supports the rehabilitation of ex-offenders in the community.
Constitution
1. Dedication and aims
PORSCH is dedicated to enhancing the contribution of research and development to the improvement of the health and wellbeing of offenders and the communities in which they live and work. Consistent with this dedication, PORSCH shall:
o sustain a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, regional network of academics and practitioners focused on offender health and social care innovation, evaluation and knowledge dissemination including by e-mail and web based information exchanges and events to discuss research and service development;
o facilitate offender health research and development projects;
o support regional research and development strategies and improved outcomes for offender health and well-being by working with health and social care and criminal justice agencies in the region;
o engage with the national policy community to inform polices for offender health and social care.
2. Membership
Membership of the network shall be free of charge to those with a commitment to research and development in the commissioning and provision of health and social care services for offenders. Members shall join by submitting their e-mail addresses to the Network Chair for inclusion on the distribution list.
3. The Management Group shall manage PORSCH network activities, meet at least four times a year and submit an annual report to the Advisory Board (see 4). Management Group members shall have research and development interests in commissioning, service providing and research organisations. PORSCH members may self nominate or be nominated to serve on the Management Group and shall be invited to serve for three year terms by a meeting of the Group. PORSCH Supporters (see 6) shall be invited to nominate one of their members to serve on the Group.
4. The Advisory Board shall support the development of the network and ensure that the Network Chair and Management Group discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the PORSCH dedication and aims. The Board shall meet at least once a year to receive the annual report and audited accounts from the Management Group. Board members shall have strategic policy, research and development interests in their organisations. Membership of the Advisory Board shall be by recommendation of the Management Group with the support of the Advisory Board Chair. PORSCH Supporters (see 6) shall be invited to nominate one of their senior members to serve on the Board.
5. PORSCH Officers:
5.1 Advisory Board Chair shall chair the Advisory Board and shall be elected by the Advisory Board members for three-year terms.
5.2 Network Chair shall represent the network and its interests in academic, policy and practice communities, chair the meetings of the Management Group and on behalf of that Group liaise with and report to the chair of the Advisory Board (see below). The Network Chair may also on the recommendation of the Management Group assume the executive functions of the Network Coordinator (see 5.3). The Chair shall be elected by the Management Group members for three year terms.
5.3 Network Coordinator shall exercise the executive functions of sustaining the network, organising Management Group and Advisory Board meetings and PORSCH events under a contract for service drawn up by the Management Group and supervised by the Network Chair or, where the Coordinator’s functions are subsumed within the role of the Network Chair, by the Chair of the Advisory Board. The Network Coordinator shall be appointed by the Management Group for three year terms.
5.4 Research Co-ordinator shall be responsible for liaising with R & D projects with which PORSCH is associated, developing new project ideas and assisting with the search for research funding. The Research Coordinator shall be appointed by the Management Group for three-year terms and supervised by the Network Chair.
5.5 Workshop Support Officer shall provide administrative assistance at workshops (registration functions, venue liaison) on a per workshop service contract supervised by the Network Chair. The Workshop Support Officer shall be appointed by the Management Group for three-year terms.
6. PORSCH Supporters
PORSCH Supporters shall be partner organisations that share PORSCH’s dedication and aims and commit financial or facility resources to the work of the Network. Supporters shall be invited to be represented on the Advisory Board and Management Group and acknowledged in PORSCH publications. Upon ceasing to support PORSCH or if judged by the Advisory Board to have acted against the stated dedication of PORSCH, Supporters will be withdrawn from the Advisory Board and Management Group.