The Cutlers - The Company Today

South Yorkshire Police Awards

Two annual Awards were launched in 1993 by the Company to recognise exemplary service given by both an individual police officer and a group of police officers to both the South Yorkshire police as well as the local community. 

SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE AWARDS 2009

The Sixteenth Annual Awards made by the Company to recognise exemplary service were presented at The Cutlers’ Hall on Friday 24 July 2009 by the Master Cutler, and included a generous donation of  £750 from The James Neill Trust Fund to Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, the chosen charity of this year’s Group Winner, which was presented by Sir Hugh and Lady Neill.

The Group Award goes to the twelve officers in the Firearms Support Group who make up Operation Octave, a determined attempt to bring home to young people the core message that the carrying of guns and knives can mean the taking of lives. In the last year, the group has delivered a special interactive presentation to 18,000 teenagers, with almost all the region’s 76 schools now covered.

The Individual Award goes to Police Sergeant Wayne Goodwin for what has been described as “outstanding” service work in the Doncaster area. He led the establishment of a community team in the Armthorpe area - where people had felt undervalued through a lack of commitment by the police. Despite a lack of finance - he helped raise cash for the project himself - he slowly won the support of parish and town councils in the area to set up a Safer Neighbourhood team based in a local school. The team then set about tackling such issues as drink driving, criminal damage, underage street drinking and various other forms of anti-social behaviour. How successful they have been can be gauged by an “Outstanding Contribution” award from the Neighbourhood Watch at county level. The systems put in place by Sgt Goodwin are now considered “best practice”  throughout the area and are being introduced to other communities.