A warm welcome for HRH The Princess Royal at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre

• A warm welcome for HRH The Princess Royal at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre
• The Butler Trust is a charity that recognises the work of frontline custodial colleagues and HRH has personally presented its awards since 1985
• During her visit, HRH met with 2024 and 2018 Butler Trust Award winners Irfa Chaudri and Jackie Smart, as well as many other frontline colleagues from across the Centre

Yesterday, HRH The Princess Royal visited Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in her role as Patron of The Butler Trust to visit Mitie’s frontline colleagues in Care & Custody and celebrate winners of the Butler Awards.

The visit recognised the work of Irfa Chaudri, who works as a Tutor at the IRC. Irfa first met HRH The Princess Royal at St James’ Palace in March 2024 at the annual Butler Trust Awards, which seek to recognise the extraordinary work of frontline colleagues working in custodial and community justice settings. Irfa was recognised for her warmth, compassion, and engaging teaching style, opening new opportunities for future employment to her students, and improving their mental health and wellbeing at the same time. Since 2014 Irfa has developed her classes from a small art room to now running a range of accredited courses in a designated hospitality room. These include cake decorating, sugar craft, floristry and her latest venture, balloon craft. Her classroom has been described as ‘the best place in the centre’.

HRH visited Heathrow IRC to visit Irfa and some of her exceptional colleagues, including Jackie Smart, Head of Learning Skills, Regimes, and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, who was recognised with a Butler Trust Award in 2018 for the support she has given to residents and officers across the centre. Jackie has introduced workshops to support disabled residents at the centre as well as worked with the healthcare team to provide extra support for residents.

HRH spent around an hour at the centre, touring the site and hearing about the diverse experiences and achievements of colleagues working across a range of roles in the Centre – from Learning and Development, to Engagement, Custody Detention, and Welfare.

To mark the occasion, HRH The Princess Royal unveiled a commemorative plaque which will reside in the Regimes area, where Irfa works, for years to come.

Sarah Mallender, Centre Manager at Heathrow IRC, Mitie, said:

“It was an honour to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to the Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre to celebrate the brilliant work of our Butler Trust winners, Irfa and Jackie, as well as more of our exceptional colleagues. We are staunch supporters of The Butler Trust and are enormously grateful for the brilliant work they do in recognising the important role colleagues do in supporting those in our care.”