Since the summer, Chaplains in Surrey and Sussex have been involved in a number of memorial services across both Forces.
We marked RoadPeace on 31st August with a service at the newly dedicated memorial wall at Sussex HQ, laying down flowers and candles and sharing prayers from different faith traditions. Likewise in Surrey on the same day Chaplains representing different faith communities shared prayers, and the service had special poignancy as we remembered in the presence of his bereaved relatives a young officer who recently died in an RTC, and laid a wreath for him.
In September, like many Forces, we acknowledged National Police Memorial Day. In Surrey, bereaved families and retired colleagues were invited, and our Chief Constable brought not only an NPMD candle to our local service, but some of the petals which fell during the national service in Lincoln Cathedral in memory of fallen officers. And during October, we marked National Baby Loss Awareness Week with a service for bereaved parents from across our workforce whose child had died at any age or stage of life, during which we dedicated a tree in the memorial garden (funded by the Police Federation and Unison), and participants tied ribbons around it in memory of their little ones.
