North East Network Champion’s Conference

We held our Champion’s Conference on Friday the 2nd of December and we would just like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all who supported the event and attended. We had a strong attendance with 55 Blue Light Champions (1/3 or our total cohort) from the North East Network, join the celebrations of what we have achieved over the past year. The day was opened by Tyneside and Northumberland Minds’ Patron and MEP Jude Kirton-Darling. Jude elaborated on how important good mental health of emergency workers is to enable a healthy and effective service. We were warmed by the bravery of two of our Blue Light Champions who shared their lived experiences and had the absolute pleasure of our special guest speaker Ed Simpson from York Police who shared his lived experience, which unfortunately led to him being medically retired from the Police force. All of our service leads gave a One Year On presentation celebrating their achievements from the past year and the day was closed by ACC Best from Northumbria Police.

It was also a sad day as we waved goodbye to Claire Pegg, one of our passionate leads from Northumbria Police as she makes a positive move to a new job at CQC. Her passion and enthusiasm for the Blue Light Programme will be missed greatly.