Fed member shares delight at leading ice skating initiative
7 November 2024
At the start of the year, PC Oli Truswell began coordinating ‘Operation Polarised’ – designed to give free ice skating lessons to secondary school-aged children, in partnership with the city’s National Ice Centre and Nottingham Express Transit.
Recipients of the lessons were identified through Nottinghamshire Police’s efforts to engage with young people with learning difficulties as well as those who have experienced social exclusion, child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation.
Op Polarised’s pilot programme kicked off in January this year, proving to be a great success over its duration of 10 weeks.
Nottinghamshire PC Oli Truswell.
Currently, in the middle of a second 10-week programme which started in September, Oli said: “It’s been an absolutely brilliant initiative to be part of so far.
“The project was very well received from our first phase of young people and we’re having a similar reaction from the second. It’s a very inclusive project, from the process of reaching out to the young people we want to involve through to the content of the lessons themselves.
“I’ve found myself really looking forward to it as the lessons roll around each week, and I just feel honoured to be leading things from the Force’s end.”
Ice skating
During the programme, sessions are held every Friday at the National Ice Centre. These consist of one hour of classroom time with inputs from the Force’s school engagement officer on positive life choices, followed by an hour of ice skating.
All those who attend at least seven sessions are rewarded with tickets to a Nottingham Panthers home fixture and the opportunity to continue skating lessons at a reduced rate for a year.
“The overall aim is to provide a safe space for these kids who are vulnerable and at risk,” Oli explained.
“We want to protect them from harm, build confidence, allow them to socialise and give their energy a positive outlet.”
The 25-year-old was approached to lead Op Polarised not only due to his work across his six years in the police, namely on a neighbourhood team for Nottingham city centre but for his vast experience and talent in ice skates dating back to his own childhood.
Since the age of 10, Oli has been a keen skater and hockey player on the ice rink and is now a referee in the UK’s highest level of competition in the sport, the Elite Ice Hockey League.
Skating
He commented on the joy of seeing young people develop through his passion: “It does mean a lot to me, personally, to be able to do this. Obviously, we are talking about teaching kids the fundamentals of ice skating, but looking further down the line, you can’t play ice hockey if you don’t know how to skate.
“As a sport which you would never describe as mainstream compared to some, ice hockey does face problems with representation, and I want this project to do its bit to help address that.
“We want a high proportion of girls involved in our programmes, so in the long term, we are contributing to the message that female participation is just as welcome as male.”
The ongoing second programme of Op Polarised is set to end in mid-November, with a third already scheduled for next January.
“I hope the project can continue for a long time to come – it’s a superb example of what can happen when the Force connects with its main stakeholders and community partners.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity – it does genuinely feel like I am giving back to the community and to the institution that helped shape me into the police officer and all-round person I am today,” Oli ended.
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