NEWS
Scott weighs in with backpack hike
PC Scott Caswell of the firearms unit in Warwickshire walked 86 miles carrying a 50lb military bergen backpack in November. He walked from 9am until the following
morning, raising more than £2,300 for the armed forces charity Veterans Contact Point. Scott, a police ofcer for 19 years, said:
“This was probably the hardest challenge I’ve done with both the physical and mental pressure it placed upon me, but it was worth it raising much-needed funds for a small Warwickshire charity who do a fantastic job in supporting veterans in so many ways.”
Friends and colleagues of a Metropolitan Police sergeant who was fatally shot in a Croydon custody suite, have joined with more than 40 rugby and TV stars to promote a new foundation in his name. The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation launched in November with the aim of providing funds to support Matt’s love of rugby and young people who have been hit the hardest by the global pandemic.
Backed by his partner Su Bushby and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, supporters were asked to donate to the cause and buy a shirt before posting images of them wearing the outfits on social media. It topped £100,000 over the first
PC Scott Caswell
weekend and money has continued to come in ever since. Su said: “Matt believed that creating community was vital to individual growth and success. His work as a coach of all ages, and as part of the police was a clear demonstration of this belief. Matt was a very special man – one of a kind. He touched so many people’s lives.” Maro Itoje, Gabby and Kenny Logan,
Davina McCall and former officer turned TV presenter Martin Bayfield were
Federation hosts equality seminars
Senior female officers are disproportionately attacked on social media compared to their male counterparts according to Chief Constable Carl Foulkes. The National Police Chiefs Council
lead for equality discussed the issue as part of a talk on various challenges faced
06 | POLICE | FEBRUARY 2021
by female officers as part of a Police Federation online seminar in November. The event also covered racial issues. Andy Roebuck, Chair of Avon and Somerset Police Federation, explained how his branch had joined forces with the Black Police Association to recruit black, Asian and minority ethnic officers as Fed
reps. “Three of the five were promoted due to development they had through the Federation,” said Andy. Laura-Jane Fowler and Jibin Philip
from the PFEW in-house legal team based at Leatherhead gave a talk on areas of equality law that can assist Fed reps.
among the famous personalities to support the foundation. The foundation was the brainchild of one of Matt’s former players and friends Sean Morgan. He remembers the days after Matt’s
death: “We were all just numb, the sheer horror and shock of it all. But the more I read, the more I wanted to get off my backside and do something.” And so, The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation was born. Using rugby as a team sport, it will
aim to help young people, through coaching and learning programmes based on need rather than ability to play or pay. That could include special needs children, children from disadvantaged backgrounds or young people who’ve just followed the wrong path. With the backing of his friends in the Met and in the rugby community more projects are planned, including in the country of his birth – New Zealand, as well as South Africa. You can read more about the foundation and donate at
https://mattratanarugby.foundation In December Matt Ratana was
awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero award, capping off an emotional time for his family and colleagues.
‘VERY
SPECIAL AND ONE OF KIND’
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