Police Appreciation Day

Last week we had a service with a difference: we appreciated and applauded the work of our local Police officers. This was something of a first at our church, but it was very well received. During the service, awards were given to 6 officers for the work that have done and going beyond the call of duty.

Visiting with us to receive the awards were several officers and their families:

Detective Chief Inspector Graham Price who is currently the Superintendent of Safer Neighbourhoods and Partnerships for Lewisham and who represented the Metropolitan Police for the Borough of Lewisham.

Chief Inspector David Michael, now retired, who was the first black Police officer in Lewisham and he spent 30 years in the force. He has received many awards for his long and distinguished service and continues to be positively involved in our local community.

PC Tim Ward who showed a lot of bravery in dealing with an attacker who stabbed him with a large pair of scissors during a call out.

PC Cindy Dobberson, a member of the Missing Persons Team who recently dealt with a 12 year old missing person who had been missing for several months. She went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the young lady was found. While Cindy wasn't able to collect her award in person, Jackie a friend, did so on her behalf.

PC Angela Tagg: She has been a very committed member of the Missing Persons Unit for ten years and has solved many cases, many of a high risk level. As a result of one of her recent cases, several commendatory emails from ranking officers stating how impressed they were with her dedication and high standard of work were received.

Last, but not least we had Horace Squire who is well-known at Lewisham church and currently lives in Lincoln. He made news earlier this year when he entered a burning building to save a resident, successfully getting the elderly man to safety before the windows of the building blew out.
They all received certificates and awards citing our appreciation for their hard work and diligence.

Also officiating during the service were representatives from the administrations of our regional and global church leadership: Pastors Des Rafferty, Paul Tompkins helped officiate and the morning's sermon was delivered by Pastor Simon Martin of the Dunstable church who spoke on the topic of 'Mind The Gap'.

Mrs Caroline Price, wife of Detective Chief Inspector Graham Price and Metropolitan Police Volunteer Manager for Lewisham urged all present to spend some of their time volunteering for the Police in their local community.

The recipients expressed their gratitude for the recognition but also general surprise in receiving the awards as it is not a usual occurrence for them. In addition, we were reminded that Police work is teamwork and for every one recognised there were many others working behind the scenes to get their jobs done. Following the service we went upstairs where the visiting dignitaries met with our members and had a delicious lunch.

The initiative, which was the brainchild of our Personal Ministries leader Anthony Morris, was a great success and a novel way to recognise the work of our local officers while looking for ways to collaborate with them in the future.

Here's a link to the sermon from the morning, and here is a video of the awards ceremony, for your viewing pleasure!

If you're on Facebook then you can see David Michael's photos from the day here.