PW_4_2018

Article

Volunteer Police Cadets Celebration Day at House of Lords Fred Rankin , Leicestershire Branch

Back Row: Jamie Head and Jac Mansell (Hertfordshire) Front Row: Jake Barnes, Natalie Showell and Saul McIntyre (Greater Manchester)

On behalf of your Past President, Mick Luke, I had the honour of attending the House of Lords to be present at a special event hosted by Baroness Harris of Richmond and the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Shaun Sawyer, to celebrate the Volunteer Police Cadets programme.

learning about drugs, alcohol and other anti-social behaviour. I was unaware until the event that there are now several areas in the UK that are introducing Mini Police Cadets and a group from Wales were at the event. Their uniform displays the writing ‘Heddlu Bach’ – ‘Heddlu’ being Welsh for police and ‘Bach’ meaning small. So, from the age of 9, many youngsters within our community can have much greater opportunities to grow into responsible and caring adults. Together with a guided tour around the Houses of Parliament, I was able to enjoy such a wonderful occasion. Although I am a retired police officer, I have found a way in which I can still serve the public I once worked for. I have been instrumental in arranging for two groups of VPCs to visit Krefeld in Germany to take part in a Soap Box Derby and I am now looking into the possibility of VPCs visiting Strasbourg for a Youth Convention. Both cities are twinned with Leicester and the local Town Twinning Association helps to fund these ventures. So, why not contact your local VPC Policing Unit and see if you can volunteer to help them!

Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said “The VPC benefits both the young people involved and their local communities. Thanks to Home Office funding we have been able to create more places for young people across the UK.” Dr Jeffrey DeMarco, a leading forensic psychology, criminology and legal researcher, at Middlesex University, presented ground-breaking research about the impact of the VPC on a young person’s life. He said “Not only has involvement in the VPC demonstrated a boost to young people’s psychological well-being across their confidence, self-esteem and empowerment, it also provides a safe place for young people to interact with like- minded peers, and gets them involved and visible in their communities.” I spoke to several of the cadets and their enthusiasm and maturity at such an early age was a credit to the organisation. They spoke about how their lives had changed since becoming cadets and how they have enjoyed helping the police with local road safety projects, their training in first aid and fire prevention, working together as a unit and

Group of mini police cadets from Ringland Primary School in Newport, South Wales.

T his event was attended by over 150 guests from Forces across the country and some of the Cadets themselves, who spoke about their experiences in the VPC. Baroness Harris, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, welcomed us to the event and congratulated the VPC Organisation on its many positive achievements throughout the UK. Baroness Harris is a former deputy chair of the Association of Police Authorities and a firm supporter of voluntary and youth organisations in Yorkshire, where she lives.

Police Volunteers Award Evening Tony Collins , Chairman of Leicestershire Branch On 14th June Andy MacIntosh, Fred Rankin and his wife Viv, had the pleasure of attending the 4th Leicestershire Police Annual Volunteers Awards Evening. T he newly elected Section UK President Clive Wood and his wife Helen also attended the evening. The event was held at the stadium of Leicester Branch Chair, Tony Collins, was a member of the Awards Panel. In respect of the Branch Award, it was one of the hardest awards to select a winner for as all nominees had strong recommendations. Eventually the panel decided Kurt Barnes - Highly Commended Most Improved Cadet Jenni Simpson - Highly Commended Most Improved Cadet with her dad

Ryan Sheppard - Most Improved Cadet Winner

The recent introduction of Volunteer Police Cadets throughout Police Forces in Great Britain has been welcomed by the IPA. Here in Leicestershire, together with the support of the City of Leicester Twinning Association (CLETA) it has been possible for two years running to help fund groups of VPCs to visit our twinned city of Krefeld in Germany to take part in a Soap Box Derby. In Autumn this year, I hope that it will be possible to send a group of VPCs to our other twinned city, Strasbourg in France, to take part in a 3 day youth convention. It is a pleasure for the Branch to sponsor the award as it represents the close relationship the Leicestershire Branch has developed with the Police Cadets in the last few years.’

City Football Club. The evening celebrates the achievements of all Leicestershire Police Volunteers. Leicestershire have some 244 Volunteer Police Cadets, 340 Specials and 230 Police Support Volunteers. For the second year in succession, our Branch proudly sponsored an award for the Most Improved Cadet. Over the previous 12 months the cadets contributed more than 11000 hours of volunteering.

that 2 nominees, Jenni Simpson and Kurt Barnes should be given highly commended certificates. The deserving winner was Ryan Sheppard. Fred Rankin on behalf of the Branch presented the certificates and award. Whilst presenting the awards Fred said, ‘The International Police Association represents both serving and retired police officers and police support staff all over the world.

POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 4, 2018

25