Thousands attend community fun day events over summer

Hundreds of families across Nottinghamshire learnt more about the work of our police teams in a series of community fun days that have been hailed as a “great success”.

The new events, known as the Mini Police fun days, are all about building trust and confidence across communities in the city and county.

In total, it is estimated that around 3,000 people attended the three days across the summer which took place at Carr Bank Park in Mansfield on June 22, Robin Hood Chase Park on July 13 and Melbourne Park in Nottingham on July 17.

The free interactive fun days are designed to celebrate the achievements of the force’s Mini Police programme and allowed the public to learn about some of the different aspects of Nottinghamshire Police.

The Mini Police programme is tailored for Year 5 pupils to learn about anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls, understanding the law as well as promoting values of kindness, respect, and inclusivity.

The events were organised as part of the force’s Prevention Hub, which is a collaboration between multiple force departments responsible for developing and delivering strategies to prevent crime and disorder throughout the city and county.

It covers a range of areas including the youth outreach team, cadets and Mini Police, with schemes that are designed to engage young people, equip them with life skills, and increase understanding of policing.

The fun days featured displays from the roads policing unit, the underwater team, and the drone team, which had static displays where people could chat with officers and take a closer look at the specialist equipment used.

There were a variety of information stands at each event, where the public could find out more about police volunteers, police cadets, the fraud protection team, the crime prevention team, the cyber security, hate crime, honour-based abuse, and youth outreach teams as well as Nottingham Forest Community Trust, Trent Bridge Community Trust, and a performance from House of Pain Wrestling. 

Families enjoyed dribbling a football whilst wearing beer goggles, taking on the bleep test, testing their reaction times on the Batak machine, and learning how to dust fingerprints with the crime scene investigation team.

Children could also try on different items of police uniform like hats and jackets.

The highlight of each event was a live demonstration from the dog section, where visitors were able to watch a police dog sniff out a mobile phone and see how the dog team handlers apprehend suspects.

Sergeant Kerry Hall, Nottinghamshire Police’s Citizens in Policing and Engagement Team lead, said: “Engaging with people from different communities across Nottinghamshire is a real priority to us.

“It’s the first year we have run these Mini Police fun days, they have been a great success and it's amazing to see them so well attended by children and families alike.

“These kinds of events have been a perfect way for us to engage with the communities we serve in a fun and positive way and help to increase trust and confidence in the police.”