Northants Police Volunteer awarded a British Empire Medal by the King
Henny Cameron has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to public service.
A Northamptonshire Police Volunteer says she almost didn't believe it when she found out she was on the King’s birthday honours list.
"It was almost quite surreal, because this envelope comes through with His Majesty on the front, I thought, Oh no, what have I done? What haven't I paid or whatever, and I opened it up and I just couldn't believe it."
Henny has been awarded British Empire Medal in King’s birthday honours for her outstanding contribution to public service.
Henny Cameron began her volunteering career at Northamptonshire Police in January 2012, following her retirement from a police staff role in the Force’s IT department.
Since then, she has put in countless hours in the name of public service, and Henny is most known for her work in the organisation of the annual County Schools' Challenge.
It's a partnership project run across secondary schools in Northamptonshire, which helps thousands of pupils learn about important social issues while teaching them invaluable skills.
As part of the challenge, students are given a social problem and must come up with proposed solutions before competing for funding from the Office of the Police & Fire Crime Commissioner to bring their proposals to life.
In the past five years, themes have included Road Safety, Knife Crime, Violence Against Women & Girls & Internet Safety, with the winners designing apps, books, graffiti art and games.
This years theme has been vaping and Henny says the way the children engage with the topics every year is amazing, including last years violence against women and girls:
"They just get it! You know, there was mixed teams talking about vocally talking about the girls were talking about how people would wolf with whistled at them and things. It's just amazing."
Teachers describe the Challenge as an important way to encourage young people to discuss a serious subject in a safe environment, while empowering students to be creative, develop their public speaking skills, and feel as though they can make a difference.
In her time as a volunteer, Henny has been the driving force behind the Challenge - communicating and designing the support resources for over 30 schools and 4000 students annually, liaising with key partners and co-ordinating all the programme events, trophies and fun activities for the children such as tours of emergency services’ vehicles.
Throughout the year, she also liaises with the winning school to help their idea come to life.
Sam Letts - Head of Year at Huxlow Academy in Irthlingborough said:
“From the moment I met Henny, I was amazed by her commitment, dedication and work ethic for a cause that clearly mattered dearly to her.
“The amount of time, hard work and effort she has put in over the past decade without being paid a penny shows what a truly wonderful character she is and her impact on the Northamptonshire community should be recognised as helping educate young people is the way to make things better in our modern society.
“I also feel truly lucky to have worked with Henny as she gave me a great opportunity to develop myself personally and professionally.”
James Allen - Citizenship Lead at The Duston School said:
“Henny’s superb interpersonal, organisational and administrative skills have been at the centre of the success of the County Schools’ Challenge initiative in Northamptonshire over many years now, and she is fully deserving of any recognition that she receives.”
Henny also volunteers for the Northants Safer Roads’ Alliance group throughout the year by organising Driver Roadshows for young people and mature drivers that aim to keep these vulnerable age groups driving safely for longer.
She also takes part in role playing scenarios for student officer training sessions, playing either a victim or a suspect.
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet said:
“The County Schools’ Challenge has inspired thousands of children over the years to believe in themselves and this would not have been possible without Henny.
“She is the backbone of this project and without her commitment it would not have been so successful. I hope she never underestimates how much of an important member of our policing family she is and how much of a positive difference her dedication to public service has had on people’s lives.
“Since she started in her volunteering role over 13 years ago, Henny has clocked up nearly 6000 volunteer hours. The enthusiasm and commitment she demonstrates is endless and she is fully deserving of this British Empire Medal.
“It’s an absolute honour to have her working as a volunteer for us here at Northamptonshire Police.”
Today and tomorrow 19 schools are taking part in the semi-final of the County's School Challenge at Police HQ. The final is a free to attend event at the Castle Theatre on the 30th of June.
Henny was a fan of the late Queen and wishes she could have received her award from Her Majesty but says she's a big fan of the whole Royal Family and is excited to meet one of them when she gets her award.