Retired Inspector volunteers to inspire next generation

Message from Humberside Police:

As you will have seen from the articles this week, we have a range of volunteers that help our teams across the force to tackle crime and keep our communities safe.

Our next piece in the series sees us speaking to Jayne Broughton, a retired Inspector who has returned as one of our fabulous Cadet leaders. 

Here at Humberside Police, we have cadets aged between 15 and 18 from across the whole force area.

As well as helping at events and training, they attend a weekly session where they learn more about the force and the different teams we have and how we work.

This wouldn’t be possible without the brilliant volunteers who give their time, every week to help guide the youngsters and teach them about every aspect of policing.
We caught up with Jayne to find out a bit more:

Q: Hi Jayne, firstly tell us a bit more about your career with Humberside Police? 
A: I joined the Humberside Police Cadets in 1979 straight from school, before joining the force as a police officer in 1981.

It was an incredibly varied career and I worked in pretty much every geographical area that Humberside Police covers, but finished my career in November 2013 as an Inspector in Scunthorpe.

Q: So when did you decide to come back to the force as a volunteer?
A: As an adult, I first volunteered for the force from 2014 to 2016. After a short break I decided to re-join in November 2019 and I still help out today.

Q: What made you first consider volunteering?  
A: I worked with volunteers when I was an Inspector at Scunthorpe and I was always impressed with their enthusiasm and willingness to help.

While working with the volunteers, as an officer, I was engaging in more community work and this was a different aspect to policing than I had ever been involved in. A member of my staff joined the volunteers when she retired about 2 years before me and I could see how much she enjoyed volunteering and what a difference they could make with their contributions. So for me it was an easy step to make after retiring as an officer.

Q: So what was your favourite ever volunteering session?
A: Just before Christmas 2019, which was before I became a cadet leader, the Grimsby cadet leaders organised a succession of role plays for the cadets, and I volunteered to act as a role player.

It was an eventful evening lasting a number of hours with all the cadets and cadet leaders and quite a few other volunteers. It was lovely seeing the cadets getting thoroughly involved and it was a buzz acting scenarios out for them. We were able to give feedback at the end and spend time getting to know the cadets. All in all it was a lovely evening.

Q: What made you decide to volunteer with the cadets?
A: After attending that role play session for the cadets and having been a cadet myself all those years ago, I thought I might be able to contribute something to the training and learning process so decided to get involved as a cadet leader.

I have always enjoyed tutoring and mentoring. It is very rewarding to see young people develop and gain confidence and knowing you have been part of that process is priceless.

Q: How have you found volunteering generally and what do you take away from it?
A: It is such a huge change when you retire from such a busy invigorating environment. I retired quite young and though I didn’t want another full time job I wanted something that could still challenge me and make me feel as if I was still contributing to a worthwhile cause, volunteering gave me just that.

I enjoy the variety the scheme gives me and now with the training sessions from motivational speakers, I am continuing to learn and stretch myself, meeting like-minded people and previous colleagues along the way.

I do feel as if I am making a difference, and using my previous experience to help inspire the next generation. I am very much looking forward to the future and engaging with more volunteering activities and making a difference in the community.

If you are interested in volunteering as a cadet leader, or you know someone who might be interested in becoming a cadet click here.