National Volunteers’ Week takes place between 1 and 7 June and Suffolk Constabulary will be taking the time to say a big thank you to all its volunteers. As life returns to normality after the pandemic the force has a number of events organised to help acknowledge the valuable work the Special Constabulary, the Suffolk Cadets and all our Police Staff Volunteers (PSV) contribute to. To celebrate Volunteers Week and their work in the police various social media messages, both photos and brief video messages from various volunteers will be published from the force’s Suffolk Citizens in Policing account @SPVolunteers highlighting the variety of roles volunteers get involved in. Meanwhile, the Police Cadets will feature as part of a ‘youth take-over’ day with one cadet from each area chosen to 'takeover' the role of Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones and local inspectors (South, East and West) for the day; postcards expressing thanks are also being sent to all the force’s volunteers and on Sunday 7 June an afternoon tea event is being held at PHQ to thank the Police Support Volunteers (PSV). In terms of figures, the Specials completed over 33,500 hours of voluntary policing in 2021 and for 2022 to mid-May they have, so far, contributed nearly 14,000 hours. In terms of Police Support Volunteers they totalled over 5,200 in 2021. The mounted PSVs and Local Police Volunteers have continued to be the Constabulary’s ‘eyes and ears’ in Suffolk local communities, ensuring their communities see a visual presence and supporting them in linking with their local policing teams. Manager of Citizens in Policing, Karen Harris said: “My team and I always look forward to National Volunteers week every year, it is a great opportunity to mark the contribution all our volunteers make and is a great opportunity to say thank you to them. The volunteers really do represent the best of Suffolk with their time, enthusiasm, energy and life experience and wisdom they bring to their individual roles. “Their presence as part of the overall force family hugely enrich the organisation and we are, as always, extremely grateful for their on-going work. Please do keep an eye on our Citizens in Policing police account for lots of great images, personal testimonies and activity – who, knows it may prompt you to join as a volunteer as well! We also cannot forget the families and friends of our volunteers – their support and patience they provide are crucial in allowing our volunteers to do what they do for our communities so we thank them as well.” Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk Tim Passmore said: “The contribution made by volunteers to policing in Suffolk is absolutely remarkable. Volunteers play a hugely important part in our policing family and we are indebted to each and every one of them for their unstinting commitment and enthusiasm. Every volunteer offers something significant whether they are Specials, Police Support Volunteers, Cadets or Custody Visitors. They give their time for nothing and add a completely different dimension to the policing family across a wide breadth of operational policing in Suffolk. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers for all they do to help make Suffolk as safer place, we are very grateful.” Watch a brief message from ACC Rob Jones expressing his thanks for the work the force’s volunteers deliver HERE