Pictures: HMP Isle of Wight staff praised by prisoners in coronavirus lockdown

Staff at the prison, who have continued to provide an essential frontline service at a challenging time, have received letters of praise from as many as 100 individuals in custody ­— thanking them for providing extra support.

HMP Isle of Wight governor, Doug Graham, told the County Press the prison had undergone a "very significant change in very short space of time" and that his staff had "stepped up to the challenge amazingly well".

Scroll through pictures at the top of this story to see inside the prison...

He spoke of how prisoners had gone from a normal regime ­— out of their cells between eight and ten hours a day ­— to one where they were only out for under two hours for exercise and ablutions.

Activities ­— workshops, education, visits ­— all stopped "virtually overnight".

"What was really heartening was stuff praising the staff."

A landline phone has been put into each of the cells, where prisoners can phone security-check-approved people, which the governor says has made a significant difference.

He said it's helped to increase social distancing, maintain mental well-being, and protect prisoners from transmission across groups.

Each wing in the establishment has been broken into four groups ­— each group managed separately.

"It means, for instance, group A goes and has exercise in the morning, then goes and has a shower while group B is exercising," said Doug.

Hand-sanitising facilities have been made available, and there are now prisoners' canteens, laundry and waste management ­— all the while maintaining social distancing.

Doug said staff have been brilliant, flexible and professional, and prisoners have been responding well to the changes.

He has as many as 600 staff members ­— some shielding at home ­— and just short of 1,100 prisoners.

"It's created a lot of anxiety for people, in terms of their family being safe," said Doug.

"That doesn't matter if you're a member of staff or a prisoner ­— you naturally have those feelings.

"And for a prisoner, they feel less in control of that, so the ability for them to contact their families easily has helped us.

"Also, staff being aware of that and understanding and dealing with people and supporting them has been really important.

"We encourage prisoners to communicate directly with officers and deal with their issues at a human level.

"But because of the extremes of the situation, the time they spend with staff has been significantly reduced, so we set up a process for them to send feedback directly to our command suite.

"What was really heartening, was that a lot of what we got ­— almost straight away ­­— was stuff praising the staff.

"We've had lots of letters from the families as well­ ­— recognition that the staff are making a real impact and a difference.

"So much of we do is completely unseen to the community, and also largely to each other, because we're all working in different areas on particular wings, so to get the positive feedback we've been getting is really important.

"We've had lots of letters from the families ­— recognition staff are making a real impact."

"Staff should feel justly proud of what they do on a daily basis, protecting the public and trying to help people change their lives.

"It's positive to see it's not the absence of things going wrong, but actually people recognising the positive work they're doing ­— a huge team effort.

"Our job requires people to be quite brave quite often, and I suppose you have this additional concern that in an environment where, although we try to maintain social distancing as much as possible, by the very nature of their work, sometimes that is not possible."

"So, that is an additional risk for staff and we're also concerned about bringing things home to our families.

"Staff are often hidden heroes, but families are also very important ­— they have to see us go off and know there are risks.

"Routine is really important for prison life, and we've managed to run a completely consistent regime the entire time.

"Everybody's got their exercise, everybody's got their showers every day."

Prisoners have access to televisions, and the the number of channels they can watch has been increased.

"We are making PPE for the NHS."

For those on a higher level of privilege ­— those who's behaviour has been particularly good ­— they have access to games consoles.

Staff are also providing "thousands of education and distraction packs" tailored to specific needs, and a newsletter which includes internal competitions such as joke of the week.

"I don't think I could've asked for a better outcome, and prisoners have played an important part," said Doug.

"One of the workshops we've recently opened up is one in the textile industry, where we are making PPE for the NHS.

"That's been a really positive development, and prisoners like to know they are contributing to the national effort."