Sunderland man with cerebral palsy makes history as one of the first disabled volunteer police cadets

A Sunderland man who suffers from cerebral palsy and deafness has made history by becoming one of the very first Volunteer Police Cadets with specialist educational needs in the UK.
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Jake Knight, 20, from Sunderland was officially sworn-in as a volunteer police cadet by the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, Winton Keenen QPM.

The Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC) is the uniformed youth group of policing and until now, has only been accessible to able bodied, mainstream educated young people.

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The cadetship, for students aged 18-25, will be based at The Percy Hedley Foundation’s Hedleys College, in Newcastle and aims to open-up policing to young people.

Northumbria Police’s Claire Wheatley and Volunteer Police Cadet from Sunderland, Jake Knight.Northumbria Police’s Claire Wheatley and Volunteer Police Cadet from Sunderland, Jake Knight.
Northumbria Police’s Claire Wheatley and Volunteer Police Cadet from Sunderland, Jake Knight.
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Joanne Rees-Proud, College Principal at The Percy Hedley Foundation, said: “We are thrilled to be the first college in the country to be able to offer our students this amazing opportunity. We strive to offer our students education and experiences that help them reach their fullest potential in all aspects of their lives, and this cadetship will certainly support that.

“To see how proud and excited the first eight police cadets are to be embarking on this course is brilliant.”

Over a full academic year, the cadets will learn all about policing including the phonetic alphabet, hate crime, anti-social behaviour, knife crime, crime prevention, internet safety, dog handling, wellbeing and mental health, theft, road safety/drink driving and anti-bullying.

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Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, Winton Keenen QPM, said: “It was a real privilege to officially welcome our newest police cadets from the Percy Hedley Foundation into our policing family.

“In Northumbria Police we believe everyone who wants to make a difference should be given the opportunity to do so and this group of truly exceptional young people will, absolutely, do just that.

“We are fortunate to have a significant number of volunteers working alongside us, who freely give up their own valuable time to the benefit of others. By doing so, I know they find it incredibly rewarding and we now have a group of new additions that will add even further value to our communities.

“I wish our new cadets well as they begin their experience of voluntary life within policing and look-forward to the new insights they will gain from us, as well as those we will gain from them.”