Happy belated New Year to everyone. This year has started with the same pace that last year finished with, and to be honest Christmas seems a very long way behind now, but as I mentioned in my pre-Christmas Newsletter, I think that we all appreciated the break, and will have hopefully returned to work fresh for the challenges that 2015 will bring.
If you have visited Harrogate recently you will already have noticed some changes in a new Reception which was refurbished over Christmas, and some other building work in our cottage and a new spinning bike suite. This money was provided from a Cabinet Office grant as part of a Libor fine levied against the banks, and although it has been a challenge trying to ensure that we spend all of this money before the 31 March 2015 deadline, it has been very welcome grant and is being used wisely to
update the centre facilities.
If you read the
PTC Facebook page you will see that we have already been busy.
We welcomed Chief Constable Dave Jones from North Yorkshire Police in the first week of January for a visit to the PTC. The Chief was followed by the Bishop James of Ripon, and both of them were hugely impressed with our work. I have also been out on the road briefing new Officers joining South Yorkshire Police about the merits of signing up to donate to the PTC, followed by a similar brief to new Humberside Officers the following week. It is important that we do try and capture the next generation of Police officers early in their career, but we must also work on those officers already serving who for one reason or another have yet to sign up.
This was the case when I went up to Newcastle last Friday, and briefed a large group of officers making up the Northumbria JBB. Northumbria have a very low sign up rate, and to be honest I am not sure why this is the case, but I do know that we have to work hard and get our message out, and ensure that Northumbria’s officers understand how they will benefit from the PTC. The brief was facilitated by Steve Wouldhave who is one of our Trustees, and arranging this brief was illustrative of the type of work that our Trustees do behind the scenes in supporting the PTC.
I am currently up in Castlebrae spending some time at our Centre in Scotland, and always running 3 sessions of CEO’s Question Time. I will be doing the same again at St Andrews in Harrogate next week. I never know if this is the type of event that I will need one of my old Army tin helmets for, but these are important events for any organisation that prides itself on how well we look after our employees, so it is a useful opportunity for me to communicate what our plans are to everyone, and of course give them a chance to have at me with any questions they may have.
<<Back