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A host of dedicated citizens were recognised at a special awards event at the St. George’s Hotel in Llandudno on Wednesday 1 June. The North Wales Police and North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner’s Commendation Evening recognised the long service of police support volunteers of three years or more.
The evening also served as an opportunity to recognise a number of dedicated young people coming to the end of their voluntary cadetships with the Police Force.
The evening was extra special as 1 June marked the start of National Volunteers Week, the annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering. In recent years the breadth of volunteer opportunities within North Wales Police has grown, with new the development of posts such as mosque liaison, LGBTQ+ Staff Support as well as the addition of several new cyber-crime volunteers and chaplaincy roles.
As well as the North Wales Police volunteers, another key group recognised were Custody Volunteers, who are organised by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales. These are individuals with no link to criminal justice services who give up their time to visit and speak to people held in police custody and check on the welfare of detainees, to ensure they are treated respectfully, fairly and in accordance with the law.
Wayne Jones, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales commented: “I would like to thank and congratulate all the volunteers who won awards for their service. We value all our volunteers, whether they serve through the Bikesafe initiative, chaplaincy, Horsewatch, or as Custody Visitors.
“We know that a friendly smile and conversation whilst held in a detention cell can make all the difference. The individual there sees a person not in uniform, a friendly face, who is there for the sole purpose of checking on their welfare. All our volunteers across the board are great examples of people making a difference in everything they do.”
Superintendent Jon Bowcott, North Wales Police commented: “Volunteers come with exceptional skills and experience and use these to support our staff and officers across the force, taking time out of their own busy lives to give back. We appreciate all that our volunteers bring to North Wales Police and they help us hugely in our mission to make North Wales the safest place in the UK.”
Poppy Hadfield-Jones, Citizens in Policing Co-Ordinator, North Wales Police said: “Our volunteers support our local communities, the officers and staff within North Wales Police and provide resilience when police resources are under pressure. I am proud of the diversity of our volunteers and the opportunities open to them, and I want to thank them for their service. In turn, I believe we offer them support, role development, health and wellbeing, awards and recognition and advice and guidance. We all gain from volunteering.”
The individuals recognised for volunteering were:
Bikesafe Observers: Bob Walker, Barry K. Dunn, Robin Trangmar, Philip Chesters, Andrew Stubbs, Darrel Crowther, Kevin Shenton, Marc Harper.
Assistant Cadet Leaders: John Morris, Jacob Evans.
Lead Chaplin: Gerald Williams.
Search & Rescue Coordinator: David Roberts-Simcock.
Horsewatch Coordinator: Helen Lacey.
Independent Custody Visitors: Hilda Atkinson, Victoria Cooper, John Dolan, Isabel Hargreaves, Marie Jones, Peter Kenealy, Sharon Mazzarella, Bethan Wrench.
Citizens in Policing Team Leader Chris Perkins also gave awards to a number of Volunteer Police Cadets who passed out of the cadetship at the event: Dominik Azurza, William Brown, Bethan Evans, Samuel Griffiths, Magda Matysiak, Jacob Riddle, Logan Rowley.
Chris Perkins said “We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive regardless of his or her background. The Volunteer Police Cadets, is a diverse group of young people aged 13 - 18 years, who have a desire to support their local communities and gain a practical understanding of policing, developing their leadership skills by undertaking challenging social action projects in their communities.”