Support totalling £17,000 helps members in need

At today’s Trustees and Operations Committee meeting, Friday 27 June, we offered a lifeline of support to two members by awarding the sum of £17,000 in grants.

A grant of £2800 was agreed by trustees to help a police staff member purchase a stair lift for his wife following a recent leg amputation. A further grant of £14,200 was given to a retired member suffering progressive dementia to fund a bathroom conversion.

The grants will make a huge difference to the quality of life of both members and their spouses who have been greatly impacted by their personal circumstances.

At the meeting we also bid an official farewell to Mick Braycotton who has retired from his role as an operations committee member.

Mick has been a big champion of our cause, especially when carrying out his role as secretary of the force’s Disability & Carers Community (EnAble) and when he was vice president of the Disabled Police Association.

Mick was awarded the BEM in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List at the end of 2020 and was quoted saying;

“Once you’ve been a member of the police family you always feel part of it,”

“There’s camaraderie and I never felt it was a case of just going into work; it was meeting up with a second family and working together to help and protect others.”

That is exactly what Mick continued to do in his voluntary role with the Benevolent Fund, always putting the needs of others first and making sure we support our wider police family when they need it most.

We are grateful for his valuable contribution over the years and wish Mick all the very best in his retirement.

As well as saying our goodbyes to Mick today we also extend a warm welcome to Patrick McBrearty who will be joining our Operations Committee as a Police Federation representative. Patrick already is very proactive at supporting member through our sickness voucher scheme and we are pleased to have him on our team.