Special guests at No10

Last week Chief Constable Lisa Winward and PC Charlotte Lancaster joined officers from across the country at No 10 Downing Street to mark the successful recruitment of 20,000 new police officers under the Uplift programme announced in 2019.

The event, hosted by Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Policing Minister, Chris Philp, recognised the public service of those stepping into policing during this time to serve our communities.

PC Lancaster was one of North Yorkshire Police's first police officers to join our Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) as part of the Uplift and will be the first to graduate next month.

CC Winward said: “It was an honour to be invited to Downing Street along with Charlotte who is the first of our 450 officers recruited as part of the Uplift programme. She is a star pupil, achieving a first class honours in her degree and is already tutoring fellow student officers. She should be very proud of her achievement."

PC Lancaster, who is a Response officer based in Catterick Garrison, added: “I'm proud to have recently completed the PCDA programme. While I came from a policing background, having been police staff previously, the PCDA programme was an entirely different way of working for me. It was a challenging but very rewarding three years. The opportunity to attend Downing Street to recognise the success of the Uplift was definitely a career highlight so far and I was incredibly grateful to be asked to attend.

We asked PC Lancaster how she found the demands of studying and working at the same time. She added: “Working full time alongside studying requires a lot of personal commitment, however there is so much support for you when you embark on the PCDA  journey, from the outstanding training team, the Professional Development Unit and peer support.

“I would certainly recommend policing as a career and would say to anyone who may be tentative because of the degree, that it is 100 percent manageable and that you will be supported.

“Now that I've completed the three years, I most enjoy supporting other people. I've now started tutoring other officers and assessing at student officer assessment days. I've also started to develop my personal skills such as becoming a modern slavery victim liaison officer.

​“There are so many things to love about this job, however the best bit about it for me will always be supporting victims and providing tailored support to them"

​If you are interested in becoming a police officer, please keep an eye on this website for future recruitment opportunities.