An officer who has continued to work tirelessly to support her team throughout her diagnosis and treatment for cancer has won the Northern Officer Award at the Surrey Police Federation Recognition Awards.

PC Ashley Ford, who was diagnosed with a rare type of neuroendocrine cancer last year, is currently working light duties from the office to support her response team.

 
She is determined to keep working, whether that means obtaining witness statements, updating victims, completing case files or conducting voluntary attendance interviews.

 
PC Ford regularly checks her team’s workload and is proactive, dealing with anything that she identifies can be done, in particular helping out with missing persons, conducting all the enquiries she can to help her colleagues and support the missing person’s family.

She said: “I decided I didn’t want to take time off work, I wanted to continue working. I love the work that I do. I stay in the office and help the team because workloads are very high at the moment and officers are being dragged left, right and centre.”

The only time she has taken off work was to have surgery and radiotherapy. She said: “I don’t want to not be at work. It keeps me occupied and I can help someone else at the same time.

“I do statements, I contact victims, I’ll keep the ball rolling for my colleagues. Just all the kind of stuff that the team hasn't got time to do at the moment, because they’re just so busy.

 
“I love being with my team, it’s like being part of a second family. We keep each other going, we keep each other positive, we’re very close. We’re always checking in on each other and after work, if you’ve had a tough day, you’ll get a message from someone from the team to say, ‘I just want to check in on you’.”

PC Ford added: “When I heard I’d got this award, I felt that I didn’t deserve it as much as someone else on my team, because I see the pressure they’re under, I see them coming back from jobs and they’ve seen awful things, and I just feel like I’m sitting in an office, tapping away at a keyboard.”

Surrey Police Federation Chair Darren Pemble said: “At a time when officers are under pressure, Ashley’s hard work has made a huge difference to her team, especially in missing persons investigations.

 
“Her colleagues describe her as always smiling, always ready to help and a joy to be around. We all wish her all the best in her future treatment. She is a worthy winner of this Award.”

PC Ford will attend the Surrey Police Federation Recognition Awards on Thursday 12 December.

The lead sponsor for the Awards is Axon.

 
Also sponsoring are Uniform Mortgages, Serve & Protect Credit Union, Flint House, Police Mortgages, No1 Copperpot Credit Union, Niche, No5 Chambers, Accord, Douglas Rowe Financial, Police Mutual, National Police Healthcare Scheme, The Surrey PCC and Metfriendly.