Police CPI supports COPS as its Nominated Charity
The team at Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI) have taken part in numerous fundraising activities over the past year to raise money for and awareness of our Nominated Charity, Care of Police Survivors (COPS). We look back on our fundraising efforts over the past 12 months.
Care of Police Survivors is a charity that supports the families of police officers and staff who have lost their lives on duty. The organisation provides practical and emotional support for bereaved families, ensuring survivors have the help they need to deal with their tragedy, and ensuring that they remain part of the police family as they rebuild their lives.
Police CPI is a police-owned, not-for-profit organisation that works to deliver crime prevention initiatives to support the wider UK Police Service, Government and the general public. With our strong ties to policing, choosing COPS as our Nominated Charity was an obvious choice.
ATLAS, 21st-22nd February 2023
ATLAS is a CPD conference held annually by Police CPI, supporting specialist Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) with learning, development and networking opportunities. The event is attended by DOCOs from every police force alongside a wide range of Secured by Design member companies who introduce the officers to their police preferred security products.
As our Nominated Charity, COPS were invited to the conference where they held a stand selling their range of fundraising merchandise. Throughout the event and during the evening’s dinner and award ceremony, the team from COPS sold raffle tickets for a range of fantastic prizes donated by the attending exhibitors.
The reception to the charity from the Police CPI team, attending officers and exhibiting member companies was incredible, and we were able to raise £2,565 over the 2-day event.
Light the Lakes, 23rd June 2023
Established in 2012, Light the Lakes is an annual event organised by COPS in which Police Officers, colleagues and friends climb the Wainwright Peaks in the Lake District to raise money to support the charity.
To support COPS, a number of Police CPI team members chose to hike Birkhouse Moor in the Eastern Fells of the Lake District. To reach the peak, the team had to climb 2,356 ft/718m on the evening of Friday 23rd June, with plans to rest and enjoy the view from the top until the lighting of the beacons on all 214 Wainwright Peaks at 3am on the 24th.
Unfortunately, due to severe inclement weather, the team reached the peak cold and soaked through, and weren’t able to wait out the night for the beacon lighting. However, they did manage to raise £622 for the charity for their attempt!
You can read more about the Police CPI Light the Lakes Team’s valiant efforts here.
Spinnaker Tower Abseil, 23rd September 2023
On a warm weekend in September 2023, four of Police CPI’s brave team members set out to conquer Portsmouth’s 170ft Spinnaker Tower, abseiling down the iconic building to raise funds for COPS.
Secured by Design Development Officers Lyn Poole and Hazel Goss, the Academy’s Amanda Mulholland, and Alex Morley, Head of HR for Police CPI, pulled on their personalised t-shirts, got kitted out with harnesses and made the descent on a beautiful, crisp September morning.
The activity was sponsored by Secured by Design member companies Solon Security, Ahmarra, Strongdor, Urmet and Zaun, and this, along with donations made, meant the team far exceeded the £500 target that was originally set, eventually raising £1860 for COPS.
You can read more about the Ladies of Police CPI’s bravery here.
Additional Funds
In addition to the physically demanding activities in which the team took part, Police CPI held charity activities internally, and the year was rounded off by a charity donation from Perspectives Network, courtesy of Lyn Poole, bringing additional funds raised to £3,590.
Thank You!
We are incredibly proud of the efforts of our team and thankful to those who have given their time and/or money to help us support the Police CPI Nominated Charity this past year. In all, we raised a brilliant sum - £8,637 - vital funds for COPS to be able to carry out the necessary work they do.
Tracy Withers, Fundraising Manager at COPS, said: “The support we have received from Police CPI during 2023 as their Nominated Charity has been superb. The funds raised and opportunities to increase awareness of the charity are vital to our work supporting some 650 police families from across the UK - families who are devastated by the loss of a loved one who never returned home from duty.
“Care of Police Survivors is the only UK charity solely dedicated to helping those surviving family members (known as survivors) to rebuild their shattered lives. Thank you so very much for all your wonderful support and for your part in helping families of fallen police officers and staff.”
To find out more about the way COPS helps families, check out the Survivor Stories on their website.
To find out more about the charity, donate or buy merchandise, visit the COPS website.
