The chosen charity of IPA Section UK for 2024
The ThinBlueLineUK is the chosen charity of IPA Section UK for 2024.
The ThinBlueLineUK was officially recognized as charity with the Charity Commission of England and Wales in June 2019. This was the culmination of many years work by its trustees, Gary Craig PSNI, Andrea Quinton NWAPC, GMP and Chris Schutrups, Hampshire (retd), Since 2012 the ThinBlueLineUK has strived to promote the excellent work of the officers of the United Kingdom and raise much needed awareness to the dangers they face and sacrifices they make. The ThinBlueLineUK was formed after the tragic murders of Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in Manchester and we have worked really hard to promote the idea of a police family, where we are there for each other in these difficult times.
We have also committed ourselves to raising much needed funds to support these officers when it inevitably goes wrong. We are a charity very much in our infancy but we are passionate about helping police officers to return to full health and are ardent supporters of mental health programs.
Over the last 6 years we have donated tens of thousands of pounds supporting the work of organisations whose ethos and work align directly with our own. Organisations such as PoliceCareUK and Police Treatment Centre’s. The work they are doing to support officers is literally saving lives and is therefore invaluable. We maintain close links to these and other organisations.
Our funds go directly to specified programs that focus currently on mental health and wellbeing. We support financially organisations who take the lead in specialist programs to support police officers with mental health and wellbeing.
We are also very keen to develop working relationships with other organisations and believe passionately in the bond that police officers have the world over. We are working closely with the ThinBlueLine in Denmark and have sent officers to visit their organisation and meet with their trustees to discuss programs that they run to improve mental health and wellbeing. Working closely with them will allow a positive exchange of ideas and help us develop ideas which we can then bring to the United Kingdom.
We also work hard to develop and build relationships with officers throughout the United Kingdom. The police family is very important to us and over the years we have fostered new partnerships with officers from many different Police forces in the United Kingdom and this is an area we are working on at present. We have a number of ThinBlueLineUK ambassadors in a number of forces and are currently developing information packs and promotion packs to allow them to highlight our work and increase awareness of what we do and what programs are available to those who may be suffering.
Mental health is still a subject that is not easy to approach and we want to change that mindset. Wellbeing is a huge topic of interest nationwide and over time and with support we want to help develop this. With more focus on wellbeing and the help that is out there can have a number of positive impacts on morale, attitude, work and family life. Increased awareness of the help that is available may encourage a greater uptake. We are currently in the final design stages of a one stop guide which we hope will help officers recognise the early warning signs in themselves and their colleagues. We hope it will help them reach out to each other and also signpost them to where they can get professional help. There is a lot of help there and we are trying to bring that together to one handy document for ease of reference.
Our annual fundraising ball is now a fixture in many police officers’ calendars and we take this event to a different city each year. Previously we have been to Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester and London. The event is hugely successful and helps raise awareness for the charity, for mental health and commands the support of organisations both locally in the United Kingdom and further afield in the United States.
We are all part of a thinning blue line and have a unique and difficult job. That can take its toll and we are keen to do what we can to help.
Gary Craig – Founder and Trustee
The ThinBlueLine UK
Registered Charity 1184042