Have your say by choosing your local hero
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Members of the public are being asked to vote for their police and fire service heroes in the 2024 Annual Awards.
The joint ceremony held by North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service recognises outstanding work by officers, staff and volunteers of both organisations.
From bravery on the frontline to unsung heroes working behind the scenes to keep the people of York and North Yorkshire safe, the awards highlight the very best of the police and fire services.
Voting for the Public Choice Award is now open, giving members of the public the chance to decide who should win the coveted honour of being the ‘people’s choice’. The three finalists for each service have been selected from award winners in a variety of categories from both organisations.
Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “What an amazing range of nominees for the Police and Fire and Rescue Public Choice Awards – each and every one of them has clearly gone above and beyond the call of duty, sometimes over many years, to keep our communities safe and feeling safe.
“Reading them all is a truly humbling experience and testament to the extraordinary work and bravery of our police officers, firefighters and the wider police and volunteer team. I am really looking forward to seeing the winners announced at the Annual Awards event in November.”
Meet the nominees
Robert (Bob) Fenwick
Bob has been a Police Volunteer with the force for over nine years. Bob’s caring nature and determination to support his local community led him to the role following his retirement from mental health nursing – a career which spanned over 50 years.
‘Crucial Crew’ is an annual event hosted by North Yorkshire Police which delivers a series of workshops to Year 6 students, with a view to helping them stay safe and developing crucial life skills. Since 2016, Bob has worked in partnership with North Yorkshire Council to deliver a fundamental input on ‘Drugs and Alcohol Awareness’, working alongside what he describes as “an amazing group of professionals” including Scarborough’s Community Impact Team.
Despite waiting for an orthopaedic opinion for a back issue, Bob showed up every day. He worked tirelessly over the eight days to host 84 workshops to deliver this essential message.
Bob has become synonymous with Crucial Crew for so many young people across Scarborough and Ryedale. Topmost of the feedback forms from teachers and young people attending Crucial Crew is praise for Bob, highlighting his unique ability to form an immediate rapport with the young people and deliver the message in a fun, engaging way.
Crucial Crew forms just one small part of what Bob contributes as a Volunteer. He can also frequently be found knocking on doors; ‘wielding a speedgun’; transporting items around the force; participating in role plays during training; attending events to promote North Yorkshire Police within the community; delivering an initiative aimed at offering crime prevention advice and welfare to older residents; raising hate crime awareness… The list is endless.
The positive impact Bob has had is immeasurable, though if a figure is needed, through Crucial Crew alone Bob has played an integral part in educating over 10,000 young people.
Thankfully, Bob has told us he has no plans to retire.
Inspector Holly Nicholls
Holly is line manager to over 20 officers and staff, covering three bands and four police stations. She takes a real and genuine interest in every team member and will take it upon herself to regularly contact staff who are on sickness leave or bereavement, whether they are part of our team or otherwise. In doing so, her team have made numerous comments that they feel supported and cared for.
Whilst juggling her work she always seems to have time for her staff and has also introduced team training days allowing the team to come together, learn and talk about issues they may be facing.
Holly must take full credit as the driving force behind the positive change within the team, implementing a patrol plan, ensuring the team have direction and are accountable for their day-to-day work. This approach has since been adopted across County command and resulted in a reduction in anti-social behaviour. The development of problem-solving plans which have been polished and driven by Holly, allows an issue to be clearly identified and a plan developed to resolve it. A number of the team’s plans have resulted in reduction in demand and have been recognised by senior leaders within the organisation and external partners. Driving proactivity through the patrol plan has ensured the team successfully secured warrants in relation to some serious organised crime groups operating in Ripon and Boroughbridge. Weapons and large amounts of class A drugs were seized resulting in lengthy custodial sentences for key individuals linked with these groups.
One colleague said of Holly: “Over my 26 years of policing I can honestly say Holly is one of the best Inspectors I have worked for. The change she has made to the team is noticeable and I know we have people wishing to join the team seeing what we are doing and how things are run, and that is 100% down to Holly.”
And another: “Holly displays a visible, ‘lead from the front’ approach, and I can say without question that in my 13-year police career she is the best line manager that I have worked for.”
Police Community Support Officer Nicole Randall
Nicole is an outstanding all-rounder PCSO who demonstrates exactly what the role is and how it should be carried out. Nicole always ensures she is upskilling herself to make sure she can deliver to the best of her ability, she is a trained Domestic Abuse Officer, Hate Crime Champion, Makaton trained and Servator Officer. She plans her days to cover the whole ward she represents, ensuring she gets into the hard-to-reach places, such as supported living which has led to residents with addictions reaching out to Nicole for support and building intelligence to support future police operations.
Nicole set up and runs the Mini Police in schools and dedicates a lot of time to building positive relationships with the children who take part. She gets the Mini Police involved in many activities and has even supported colleagues in other areas to start up Mini Police within the last year. Along with the Mini Police, Nicole hand-delivered over 500 Christmas cards made by school children from the community to residents in care homes over the festive period.
Nicole also helped raise money with schools to buy, donate and deliver easter eggs to the homeless shelter.
Nicole is ever-present in schools, delivering lessons on important subjects to educate and keep children safe.
One colleague said: “I have seen Nicole first-hand in action at various incidents from domestic incidents to welfare issues and I have been impressed with her patience and knowledge. She uses her experience to ensure the right response is given including engaging with partner agencies.”
Nicole's social media presence is excellent, she shouts about the good work done in the community, reaching a wide variety of groups which includes: Veterans Breakfast, Care Homes, Bramble Brews, schools and businesses.
Cast your vote for the North Yorkshire Police Public Choice Award 2024
Please note, voting closes on Friday 25 October 2024. You will not be able to vote after this date.