Suffolk police cadets: Fed member looks back on ‘brilliant’ residential trip

29 January 2025

An award-winning Federation member has continued to shine a light on Suffolk’s police cadet programme as he discussed the success of its enriching residential trips.

Trevor Spinlove recently spoke to the Federation about his dedication to the cadets – spanning more than a decade and earning him the prestigious Leadership Award at last month’s Lord Ferrers Awards, a ceremony held annually by the Home Office in celebration of outstanding voluntary service to the police force.

PC Trevor helped to kickstart a reintroduction of the programme in 2010, after an earlier iteration had become dormant.

And ever since then, he has overseen progress which has stood to benefit countless young people from across the county with skills around both policing and wider life.

Trevor (centre, wearing cap) joined by cadets and fellow leaders in Belgium.

Alongside weekly learning sessions and community engagement events, a key component of the cadets has been its annual activity trips.

As is customary for the initiative, its latest adventure – to the Ardennes region of Belgium, last August – was a first experience abroad for a number of team members, and Trevor shared more about the expedition.

“Another first for this trip was that we had cadets from seven out of our eight units across Suffolk involved – by far our biggest spread of attendance ever, which was really pleasing,” he said.

Channel Tunnel

“In total, we had 25 cadets and six leaders, including myself as one of the leaders of our Ipswich unit.

“So, even before the trip had begun, I had high hopes it would be just as brilliant as our previous ones – and that’s exactly what it turned out to be.”

Reaching the Ardennes via the Channel Tunnel, the group spent three full days based at a campsite in the town of Vielsalm.

Day one involved physical activities such as kayaking and raft building, with the cadets then taking in three more countries in the following 24 hours as they visited the surrounding nations of Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands on a cultural travel day.

Back in Belgium for the trip’s third day, the youngsters – who are all aged between 13 and 18 – enjoyed Adventure Valley, a theme park in the local city of Durbuy.

“It was a massive success,” Trevor continued. “There wasn’t much sleep involved, but we fit so much in that the cadets were able to have fun while learning some really valuable life skills.

“That’s what it’s all about, really – we want to pass on our knowledge around policing to the next generation of officers, but more generally, we also want to give them opportunities that will stand them in good stead for whatever they go on to do in life.

“The trip needed discipline, with early morning get-ups, and not only hard work, but teamwork, particularly with cadets from different units having never met each other before – and there was plenty on show.”

Lord Ferrers

Trevor, who picked up his Lord Ferrers award in London, pointed towards the residential trips as evidence of how important the police cadet system is to the county.

The programme offers Suffolk’s young people an outlet to develop their confidence and discover abilities they may have been unaware of within themselves, he says.

Following this, the idea is to take these experiences and skills into adulthood, where even aside from careers – some of which have been forged in the police force – a number of cadets have returned to their units as voluntary instructors.

“Policing is full of situations where you simply don’t know how you’ll respond until you’re in it. If we can get a bit of that same principle across to our cadets, by putting them in new situations, we can push them to new limits.

“And if we can do that in completely new places and countries every now and then, that’s even better.

“When you consider some of our cadets come from vulnerable or disadvantaged backgrounds, we will always be very proud to represent the police in providing these opportunities for them.

“Planning is well underway for the 2025 trip,” he ended.