Greater Manchester Police train officers to help colleagues cope with grief and trauma

Greater Manchester police has worked with a leading bereavement support charity to train officers as Grief First Aiders to help fellow officers to recover from trauma.

The force has recently been working with the UK’s leading charity for bereavement, Cruse Bereavement Support to introduce Grief First Aiders (GFAs).

GMP will be the first police force, and blue light service, to receive specialist bereavement training for officers and staff, who will in turn provide specialised bereavement support and offer a safe space to talk with bereaved colleagues with compassion and understanding.

Examples and benefits of this means it could assist directly following a personal bereavement or one from a scene of a distressing incident, when returning to work, or anytime an individual is struggling. 

Thirteen officers and staff have already been trained to provide emotional assistance, connect officers and staff to helpful resources, establish peer support networks, and have difficult conversations around traumatic losses like suicide.

They are also trained on self-care to manage their own grief and boundaries when repeatedly exposed to trauma.

Alison Winter, from Cruse, said: “Police officers and staff endure an immense amount of grief and trauma throughout their dedicated line of duty to serve and protect the public.

"Often being that trusted person members of the public encounter not only during their hour of need but when notified of, at times, the news no one wants to hear of losing a loved one.

“The constant grief can have a profound impact on their physical and mental wellbeing. That is why it is extremely important and a priority we act now to provide our first responders with the resource of bereavement support they need to enable them to have enhanced skills to serve our communities with increased compassion and strength.”

One of the volunteer, Sam Martin from GMP’s Information Management Branch said: "I volunteered to take part in this project following my own life experiences, and the loss of my elder sister and best friend Sarah in 2012, when she was 27 from cancer. I’m very passionate alongside the Wellbeing Volunteer Coordinators in strengthening bereavement support and destigmatising discussing grief openly.

“We are pleased to be leading the way and aspire to continue training more officers and staff within Greater Manchester Police, which in turn will assist us when serving our communities. The specialist training, we have received has been outstanding from Cruse Bereavement Support, which was delivered by Martin Roddis and Kirsty Slack. The feedback we have gathered already shows how impactful having Grief First Aiders is.”

Doug Sipple, Head of Occupational Health & Wellbeing Service at GMP said: “At Greater Manchester Police the wellbeing of our officers and staff is one of our key priorities to ensure we can continue to keep our service to a high standard and protect the public as a direct result.

“The support available through our Grief First Aiders is a key tool for our officers and staff to use. This means they can access specialist help when needed whether it is in the line of duty or for personal circumstances.

“We are proud to be a leading force in this area of work, taking a proactive approach to something that will affect us all at some point in our personal and professional lives.”