International Police AssociationBirmingham, West Midlands branch

August 2010Servo Per Amikeco

Who else thinks this year is flying by? I am sure most people say that as we get older, the days, months and years seem to fly by even quicker than before, but this year the theory seems even more appropriate. The IPA calendar has been extremely busy on a local, regional and national basis and this newsletter will hopefully keep you updated with some of the events and recent news.

The Birmingham branch celebrated its 45th year and the UK IPA has recently celebrated its Diamond Jubilee, 60th anniversary. We will cover some of the celebrations in this newsletter and maybe even another newsletter in a few weeks time.

Anniversary mealThe branch anniversary meal was a great success and after all the planning, 45 people attended a lunch at Tally Ho on Sunday 23rd May 2010. How strange that we ended up with 45 people attending our 45th anniversary meal?We were blessed with fantastic weather on probably the hottest day of the year so far. We were entertained by an excellent keyboard player and various other activities added to the day …. i.e. a quiz, a table display of IPA memorabilia and a slide show of IPA branch events over the years.A number of special guests were invited; IPA President Steve Connor and his wife Anne travelled up from London. Sadly the other special guests that could not make it included Jack Grinham and Mr and Mrs Len Washer. Len is the longest surviving IPA member and was a founder member of the organisation with Arthur Troop. Many of you will have seen Len's image featuring in the Diamond Jubilee IPA picture, painted by the famous police artist Jedd (John Edwards). Len was also the first Birmingham branch Chair, but sadly due to recent health problems he could not make the event. He sent his best wishes to the branch and his message of support was read out by our current Chair Andy Gregory.

Our committee put a huge amount of effort into arranging the day and the feed back has been excellent. The food at Tally Ho was first class and the celebrations went without a hitch. Our secretary Martin Sewell had organised an IPA themed quiz and various prizes were awarded. Additionally, two raffles took place.... the first with an array of prizes, raised £60 for the branch and the second 'Jedd' raffle raised £245. This money was split equally between the branch funds and Help For Heroes fund. We have received a letter of thanks from HFH for the kind donation. One of the raffle prizes (a lovely bottle of Scottish Malt whisky) was kindly donated by a former branch Chair Brian Perkins who had made the trip down for the weekend from Scotland. This prize was won by Bill Sweet if memory serves correctly!The main prize (of the Jedd framed print) was drawn by our IPA president's wife, Anne Connor and the lucky winner was Josie Taylor from Harborne Police Station. The picture had been donated by Pam Gurgil, a friend of Margaret and David Sewell. A letter of thanks has been sent to Pamela for the kind donation.As well as Brian and Jill attending from Scotland, guests of the camping and caravanning section Margaret and John Davies attended from Wales.

Josie Taylor (centre) receiving her wining prize from the branch Vice-Chair Karon Heap and Chair Andy Gregory

Special AwardFor those of you who could not attend the event, a Chair's special recognition award was presented to David Sewell for his fantastic commitment to the IPA over the years.

Dave Sewell receives his award from branch Chair Andy Gregory and IPA President Steve Connor

David was presented with a certificate and an engraved pen by Andy Gregory and the IPA President Steve Connor and his citation read as follows:

Chair's Special Award and Certificate of Merit awarded to David Sewell …...

for his commitment to the International Police Association in his fifty-three years of membership.

David Sewell has carried out a variety of roles at branch and regional level and continues to strive to improve matters for the members.

David attends all the regional meetings and now plays a vital role on the regional finance sub-committee. David arranges many branch activities and takes minutes at all of the branch meetings. All of the branch members have benefited from David's considerable commitment to the IPA.

National Council Meeting The annual NCM was hosted by Region eleventhis year and took place during a few hot days in June. The event coincided with a rededication of the IPA stained glass window at Guildford cathedral on Friday 18th June 2010.

A number of key decisions were made at the NCM, (which will be covered in the 'Police World' magazine and on the IPA website); however, it is worth reminding members that one of the main changes is that other members can now be accepted. PCSOs, SOCOs (or FSIs) and civilian investigators can now join the IPA as full members. This sees a big change for the organisation and hopefully more people will now consider joining. We believe we have the first ever PCSO member within our branch. Suresh Retnasingham (who many of you will know as Sid) has been a member for many years as a special constable, however, before taking on his job as a PCSO a few years ago, he joined as an IPA life member.

Guildford cathedral rededicationThe IPA stained glass window rededication was an excellent event and attended by IPA members from across the world. It was seen as one of the main Diamond Jubilee celebrations and well attended by a number of Chief Constables and special guests.

Baron Imbert (former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) delivered an excellent speech, as did President Steve Connor and Reverend Jan Moore, the Police Chaplain from Surrey Police. The speech will hopefully be printed in a regional newsletter next month.

Name ChangeAs agreed at the AGM in January, the branch name has now changed from 24 May 2010 to 'Birmingham, West Midlands' branch.

New Joiners in 2010 (to end of August)

James Henry Gibbs – West MidlandsJonathan Peepall – Birmingham, West MidlandsScott McGarrigle – Birmingham, West MidlandsJack Dobbinson – Birmingham, West MidlandsDavid Cross – Birmingham, West MidlandsKaren Withy - Birmingham, West MidlandsKevin Knight – Coventry & WarwickshirePaul Deeley - Birmingham, West MidlandsMichael Horton – West MidlandsMatthew Tite – West MidlandsAlexander Smith – West MidlandsGary Bullock – West Midlands

Update on Stratford houseDue to a very busy year with organising the cycle ride and the anniversary meal, the 'IPA House' sub-committee has been unable to progress the concept of an IPA holiday home in Stratford. It is anticipated that the regional sub-committee will progress this later in 2010 and early 2011. You may have seen on the IPA website and in the recent Police World magazine, that an IPA house has now been opened in the historic town of Colchester. If you wish to book the property, then please contact IPA Fox Road for details.

Youth exchangeBranch member Martin Hall has updated the committee that his teenage daughter has recently stayed in France with the family of an IPA member. Additionally the Hall's have recently hosted a member of the French family. Hopefully this mutual exchange will result in an article for the branch newsletter or Police World magazine in the future. Martin was also hoping to take part in the London – Brighton cycle ride, but had to cancel at the last minute following a nasty cycling accident on the way home from work. We wish Martin a full recovery and hope he is back in the saddle soon!

Turning JapaneseBranch member Dave Cheshire has recently had a fantastic trip out to Japan, meeting IPA colleagues and again we hope to publish an article in the future. Prior to attending, Dave made contact with IPA member Carl Ames in Germany for advice. Carl lived in Japan for many years, prior to returning to the UK and joining West Mercia Police for eight years. Carl now lives with his family in Germany, yet was able to give Dave much advice about travelling through Japan. Dave is a martial arts expert and was going to Japan to take part in a tournament and Carl's advice was invaluable. We understand that Dave's trip was hugely successful and he even had some bouts against Japanese officers. It just goes to show what great networking opportunities there are being an IPA member (a German and Japanese speaking Brummie with a Japanese wife, now living in Germany, gives advice to a Brummie going to Japan to fight in a martial arts tournament ?????).

London – Brighton cycle rideNine members of the Birmingham branch have just completed a gruelling 54 mile cycle ride in aid of charity. The London to Brighton cycle ride in aid of the British Heart Foundation takes place annually and over 27,000 cyclists make the journey from Clapham Common to the south coast through picturesque villages and countryside.

The team consisted of Karon Heap, Martin Sewell, Mark Sheehan, Graham Wright, Mark Stokes, Bill Burrows, Phil Stacey, Chris Bradley and Andy Gregory, with ‘back-up’ drivers Karen Burton and Chris Edgeworth helping transport the team, bikes and equipment to and from the event .One of the team Andy Gregory said “Sadly one of our IPA colleagues Roger Lincoln passed away last year and it spurred a number of us into getting fit again, while also raising money for a very worthwhile charity”.The team have so far raised around £1500 for the British Heart Foundation and you can still sponsor them via http://original.justgiving.com/ipabirmingham

Mark Stokes, one of the team members will be away in August and September with retired colleague Paul 'Robbo' Robinson, attempting to complete the John o' Groats to Lands End cycle trip. Mark will be adding a few extra miles to the trip as he will be cycling through Ireland as well as Scotland, Wales and England. An article will appear in a later newsletter.

Sub-Committee

You may have realised over the last year or so that the branch is growing and with that comes more organisation and responsibility for the main committee. We are therefore considering a small 'social activities' events sub-committee that can arrange events for branch members. We are still uncertain as to the future of the West Midlands branch and if the branch folds, an amalgamation could see a large number of members transferring to our branch. We therefore want to ensure that we have sufficient activities throughout the year to retain existing members and to encourage new members to join.

Other snippets:

Branch member Nigel Oseman recently visited New Zealand with his wife and met with IPA colleagues. We hope to circulate an article in the near future.

We recently hosted some Romanian IPA members who were coaching competitors in the World Student/Youth gymnastics event at the National Indoor Arena. Branch committee members met with the group and welcomed them to Birmingham.

Gimborn update:

Four officers (including three branch members) attended Gimborn conference centre in March 2010 on the 'Counter Terrorism' course. For the three members it was their first experience of Gimborn and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

On the July 'Violent Crime' course, again four branch members attended - Karon Heap, Mike Rhodes, John Wiltshire and Andy Gregory. This was Karon and Mike's first trip to Gimborn and we expect both of them to return in the future after a fantastic week.

Region 5 will continue to fund travel to Gimborn for ten people in 2011. Additionally, the national IPA at Fox Road will cover the accommodation and food costs for a member to attend (every second year). Contact Fox Road or any of the committee if you want further details about attending Gimborn.

Future Dates:

2010

Wednesday 3rd November 2011 - Branch Meeting – Tally Ho, 7pm (for 7.30pm start)

Wolverhampton Meal – Date to be fixed

Christmas Meal – Date to be fixed

2011

Sunday 30th January 2011 – AGM – 1130hrs, Tally Ho, followed by Sunday Lunch (contact 0121 626 8228 to book lunch).

Remaining branch meeting dates will be circulated in due course.

Gimborn Courses

4th - 8th October 2010 – Trauma and Stress (English).

14th - 18th March 2011 – The Police Profession – concepts, training and further education (English).

2nd - 6th May 2011 – Money and Crime – investigation and prosecution – liberal societies with open borders (German/English).

11th - 15th July 2011 – Immigration and Crime – conditions and consequences of migration to Europe (German/English target group – officers up to 35 years of age) .

29th August - 2nd September 2011 – Women and leadership – gender mainstreaming, quotas, formal and informal regulations – concepts, facts and experiences in police and public authorities of Europan countries (German/English).

24th - 28th October 2011 – Domestic Violence and Child Protection – intervention and prosecution by police and public authorities – concepts and experiences (English).