Public-spirited officers praised for ‘amazing efforts’

24 June 2021

The chair of Derbyshire Police Federation praised the ‘amazing efforts’ of police officers after new figures revealed almost nine in 10 have done volunteer work or fund-raising during the pandemic.

Tony Wetton said: “It makes me proud to be part of the police service.”

Research carried out by civil service and public sector membership club Boundless shows that 88 per cent of officers found time to give something back during the Covid-19 crisis.

Officers who took part in the survey, carried out for Public Service Day (23 June), were also found to have raised £13,817 per person for charity during the course of their career.

Tony said: “These figures show how special the people who work in policing are. Not only have officers been working tirelessly to serve and protect our communities during such a dark period, they’ve gone above and beyond to bring some light to people.

“It’s been an amazing effort from so many and I’m sure their volunteering and fund-raising – on top of the day job – will be appreciated right across our communities. Thank you to you all,” he added.

Public Service Day was launched by the UN in 2003 to celebrate our public services and the people working in them.

John Apter, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), said: “This is fantastic to see but doesn’t come as a surprise to me.

“Police officers and staff are by their very nature decent caring people, and I personally know many who support great initiatives in their spare time.

“Police officers are humble people who do not really want to have the spotlight shone on them.

“However, I think it is really important we celebrate our colleagues and the difference they make to society both on and off duty.”

The research was conducted for Boundless by Opinion Matters, and involved 2,048 employed respondents.

The main voluntary activities supported by police officers and service employees during the pandemic included: