Police UK Disability Sport CIC (PUKDS) is campaigning the UK Government to create the Emergency Services Covenant, which will include an Emergency Services Trust.

What we are proposing:

The Emergency Services Covenant:

To provide support and services to all those serving and who have previously served in the UK emergency services and their families, including the bereaved so that all those who have served or are now serving in the emergency services be treated fairly and with respect in the workplace and in the communities they serve.

The covenant will work with organisations, charities and not-for-profits that provide support services to individuals and organisations through well-being support to individuals with physical and psychological injury and/or illness, disability and mental health services for treatment, recovery and rehabilitation.

This will include all full-time, part-time and volunteer staff from all of the UK's emergency services, Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulance and His Majesty's Coast Guard.

The covenant will also cover all staff and volunteers working in the UK's first responder roles, such as RNLI, Air ambulance, Search and rescue as these first responders, most often than not are volunteers and experience high numbers of traumatic events with very little well-being support.

The Emergency Services Covenant Trust:

The trust will provide financial assistance to all of the UK's recognised emergency services charities and not-for-profit organisations through a national and regional grants process, where all those who qualify can apply for short and long-term funding to provide goods and services which support the emergency services personnel including volunteer services and their families, both past and present in relation to well-being. This will cover all goods and services provided through treatment, rehabilitation and recovery, and provide sustainable funding for treatment centres and projects that promote a healthier emergency services workforce.

The trust will not provide funding for kit and equipment for the emergency services and volunteer first responders to operate, it is there to support the staff and volunteers that serve the community when they need it after experiencing traumatic events resulting in ill mental health, such as stress, anxiety and PTSD , and/or injured, sick or disabled.

All applications for funding will go before a committee of Emergency Services Covenant Trust members.

We are asking the government to allocate adequate funding for emergency services well-being and recovery through the creation of the Emergency Services Covenant and Emergency Services Covenant Trust as it does for the Armed Forces Covenant and Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Why is this needed now?

Because UK emergency services personnel past and present currently have to pay for their own well-being support, treatment, recovery and rehabilitation services through salary sacrifice schemes, even when they are injured or even assaulted whilst performing their duties as a first responder.

Here is just one example of recent events; The summer of 2024 saw record numbers of police officers assaulted on duty during the mass public order events all over the UK. With over 500 officers reporting injuries in a single week.

In 2011 the Armed Forces Covenant was created to support the Armed Forces community. Since then the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust has supported millions of armed forces personnel and veterans, and their families with hundreds of millions of pounds in grants being awarded to date.

The covenant provides a promise that no armed forces personnel or veteran, or their families are discriminated against and are afforded the same opportunities as members of the public.

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust in 2023 alone awarded over 30 million pounds to armed forces charities and other organisations providing support services to the armed forces community in the UK.

The Government has just pledged a further 31 million pounds to support the Armed Forces community with well-being support services.

UK Emergency Services charities are self-funded, through private and public donations, and are very rarely eligible to apply for any government or local funding. As such they rely on the generosity of the public, who are currently in a cost of living crisis, meaning that many of the charities and not-for-profit organisations are having to reduce their support services or greatly increase their employee contributions, putting more financial strain on the people that are serving the public under the employment of the government.

so,

Police UK Disability Sport CIC is asking the government to provide similar support to the UK's emergency services community for which it provides to the Armed Forces community.

Interesting Facts and Figures:

• On average a police officer will experience between 400 and 600 traumatic events during their career.
• On average a fire fighter will experience 28 adverse events in their career.
• Nearly 97% of paramedics have experienced traumatic events in the field, resulting in higher risk of PTSD.
• An MOD study found that 1 in 1,000 serving British armed forces personnel have PTSD, it was found that the proportion was far greater in those that had served on operational tours than those that have not.
• Almost 1 in 5 police officers in the UK have a form of PTSD.
• Air Ambulance have responded to 2226 incidents in 2023 alone, 1333 by helicopter.
• His Majesty's Coast Guard responded to over 37,500 incidents in 2023.
• Community First Responders were called to 86,880 emergency 999 calls in 2023, which equates to 1.92% of all ambulance calls.
• St John's Ambulance treated 3,453 patients, 158 were cardiac arrests, saving 39 lives.
• 37,786 Police Officers were assaulted in 2023.
• Almost 45,000 assaults on ambulance workers recorded in the past 5 years.
• 1,030 incidents involving an attack on firefighters in the year to March 2023.

Latest employee figures: 2023-24

British Armed Forces: 138,120

Front Line Emergency Services:

Police Officers:  170,500

Firefighters:  30,723

Ambulance staff and Paramedics:  19,700 and 40,700

His Majesty's Coast Guard:  3,900

Combined Front Line Emergency Services Personnel: 265,523 (almost double that of the Armed Forces).

These figures do not include front line staff roles, or any other emergency services staff roles that will be supported through the Emergency Services Covenant and Trust.

Other First Responder agencies:

Air Ambulance Service:  1,671

Community First Responders:  12,000

RNLI Volunteers:  5,700

Search and Rescue Volunteers:  1,397

St John's Ambulance volunteers: 44,385

Combined First Responders:  65,153
Predominantly made up of  community volunteers who receive little to no well-being support through their role.

What can you do to support this campaign?

• You can sign the petition using any of the links on this page.
• You can write to your local Member of Parliament to gain their support for the campaign, please click here to see the list of MPs, just enter your postcode to locate your local MP.
• If you are a member of an emergency service or volunteer service, you can help put us in touch with your organisation so that we can gain their support.
• You can share this page on your social media platforms, to your friends, family and colleagues to help raise the awareness and promote the campaign. Just copy and paste this link https://www.policeukdisabilitysportcic.co.uk/emergency-services-covenant-campaign

Members of Parliament Supporting the Campaign:

Emergency Service Organisations and Charities Supporting the Campaign: