Well the time has come for the final CEO PTC Blog of the year, and what a year it has been.  I think that after 2020 with all its challenges we thought that 2021 would signal a routine to normality but that has not really been the case.  We opened the PTC and then promptly shut it in fairly short order in January 2021, and then remained closed until April when we re-opened both Centres and thankfully have remained open for business even since then.  It has been a constant balancing act and hugely frustrating for all of us. 

When we were closed, I felt guilty that we were not open and treating those police patients that needed us, and then when we were open, I always had one eye rather nervously on the latest COVID data wondering what that might mean for us.  I hope that we have struck the right balance in this, in that we remained open whilst retaining a number of COVID measures to protect Staff and Patients, but we gradually increased the numbers and weekly intakes and laid on more classes finding a happy halfway house.  As I write this Blog there is more uncertainty about the latest COVID strain circulating and none of us really know what is round the next corner, but as long as it is safe to do so, we will aim to keep the PTC open to ensure that we are able to look after our Patients.

Whilst looking back over the year one of the highlights must be the opening of the New Clinical Services Wings at our Harrogate Centre.  This multimillion-pound project was a labour of love that we nursed over the line, and it was a real delight and relief when our Chair of the PTC Board of Trustees Liam Kelly and the Chair of Police Care UK Mark Lindsay opened the Wings in June.  We do have some plans for some new programmes that we are working on for next year, and more details will follow on those over the next few months.

The last 2 months have been busy and it is clear that many of us have been trying to catch up on missed visits and meetings that fell by the wayside over the last few years.  I have been privileged to attend the BTP Conference Dinner and Awards Ceremony in York, and the Defence Police Federation Dinner and Awards Ceremony in Southampton.  As well as being fantastic occasions in their own right and a chance to catch up with colleagues, it is also humbling to hear the everyday stories of courage, bravery and achievement by many police officers, who without these ceremonies would often be unrecognised.  In more recent weeks we have hosted Chief Constable Lauren Poultney from South Yorkshire and Chief Constable Chris Rowley from Lancashire on visits to the centre at Harrogate, both of whom were hugely impressed by all of our fantastic facilities and not just the state-of-the-art New Wings. 

Most of you will have been aware of the COP26 Climate event in Glasgow in November, and I am pleased to say that we played our part in providing accommodation for police officers all over the UK at our centre in Auchterarder as they converged on Glasgow.  This was a significant income generator for the charity and will allow us to do things even better than would normally be the case.  After a short break to return things to normal, our Castlebrae centre then hosted delegates from 18 different countries the week after COP26 finished who were gathering for the annual EUROCOP Conference in Edinburgh.  None of them have anything like the PTC in their home countries, and after talking to them about some of the challenges that their police forces face, I was left feeling hugely proud of our charity, and what we do.

I will finish on some good news for everyone.  Some of you will be aware that our previous Patron the Duke of York stepped down in 2020 meaning that this was the first time that we have been without a Patron since 1931.  I am delighted to inform everyone that HRH Princess Anne has agreed to become the PTC’s Patron initially for a 3-year period, but then to be reviewed in after.  This is a real accolade for the PTC, the Princess Royal is widely known as probably the hardest working senior member of the Royal Family and is admired and respected by all.  It is very unusual for her to take on any additional Patronages as she is so busy, so it is testament to the work of what the PTC does as a Police Charity that she has done so in our case.

Thank you all for your support this year, do please stay safe if you are working over Christmas and we hope to see as many of you as possible in 2022.

Merry Christmas

Patrick Cairns

CEO PTC

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