The High Sheriff of Surrey Awards 2024-25.

The High Sheriff of Surrey – Shahid Azeem DL presented awards to deserving members of the Community last week at Merrist Wood College near Guildford. The event was an opportunity to recognise members of the Community for their valuable work in the County of Surrey..

Rachel Roberts is the Head of the Victim and Witness Care unit, the team within Surrey Police responsible for the delivery of assessing the needs of victims of crime and supporting them through engagement with partner agencies and the criminal justice system, ensuring they not only get justice but are able to move on with their life after their experience. Rachel, who originally joined Surrey Police in 2009 as a complaints administrator, embodies the passion and empathy that is the trademark of the unit showing her commitment to enhancing the service for every victim of crime in Surrey. Rachel has been involved in driving forward the Force’s work to support victims 2014, since which time she has worked tirelessly to support the implementation of the Victim’s Code and more recently, working as part of the team to set up and then lead the newly formed Victim and Witness Care Unit in 2019. Rachel sees the VWCU as her proudest achievement in her career to date, bring together what were formerly separate functions delivered across a range of agencies to ensure that victims in Surrey receive a high quality service, from a consistent and supportive member of her team. Rachel has led the team through the difficult challenges of the Covid pandemic and Crown Court backlogs which have caused significant stretch on the unit. But throughout, it is Rachel’s caring leadership that has kept the team focused on the goal of giving the best standard of care to victims whatever the challenge. More recently Rachel has stepped forward to highlight the work of the unit to internal and external stakeholders, raising the profile of the team but also the very real impact on victims of the challenges in the CJS. It is Rachel’s personal and impassioned narrative that has galvanised a range of partners to focus on delivering the best possible service to victims of crime and it is for that reason, I have no hesitation in nominating her for a High Sheriff’s Certificate to recognise her outstanding work.

Jo Grimshaw has worked for Surrey Police since 2003 where she started her career as an Antisocial Behaviour Caseworker responsible for Guildford/Waverley. In 2012 she became the Force’s ASB Manager and in January 2021 was promoted to Head of ASB and Partnerships with the additional portfolio of youth engagement and tactical lead for Serious Violence as part of the work carried out by the Prevention and Problem-Solving Team. Jo is directly responsible for a team of 7 ASB specialists and ASB Sgt who work closely with police teams and partner agencies to deal with ASB, either through prevention, intervention or enforcement. She tactically and strategically advises the Force on ASB which has included implementing policy and procedure for the ASBCPA 2014 and the use of ASB legislation and other ancillary orders to help tackle and disrupt serious and organised crime and child exploitation. She also has responsibility for the strategic delivery of the multi-agency problem solving platform (ECINS) for the County and the professional oversight of the 22 Youth Engagement Officers. 

Jo has produced and implemented the Surrey Partnership ASB Plan and has helped with the commissioning of a victim service for repeat and vulnerable victims of ASB and a support service for victims who have been exploited due to cuckooing. She has also recently ensured that Surrey’s Community Trigger process was refreshed to include the recommendations from ASB Help and the Living the Nightmare Report 2019. She organises the County’s Practitioner Forums and the annual Surrey Tackling ASB Awards and ASB Awareness weeks.  Jo has sat on the Home Office ASB Strategic Board and is the South East Regional Police SPOC for the National Police Chiefs Council ASB Lead. She has worked closely with the Victims Commissioners Office campaigning for better rights for victims of ASB and works with the charities ASB Help and Surrey Crimestoppers. She is a member of the VP’s Board for Surrey Clubs for Young People and recently joined the National Policing VKPP Child Exploitation Peer Review Team. She has received awards for her outstanding work including: Derek Willot Award – 17/05/2017 and The Chief Constable Commendation – Nov 2015 for ASB.

Claire Hopkins is the Operations Director of ‘Surplus to Supper’ and the driving force behind the set up and rapid expansion of the charity. Claire co-founded the fundraising initiative in 2017, and has since early 2020 built an amazing operation. The Charity addresses food waste by redistributing surplus food to local charities, ensuring it reaches those in need. The kitchen initiative transforms surplus ingredients into nutritious meals for vulnerable individuals, offering vital support to the community and additionally, the charity operates a weekend market where food donations from supermarkets are provided, preventing waste and offering affordable food options to the public. ‘Surplus to Supper’ also provides catering services for various events, using these opportunities to support their mission financially and raise awareness about the importance of reducing food waste. Through these efforts, they strive to create a sustainable and supportive community.

The High Sheriff and Judges from Surrey Magistrate courts would like to recognise the valuable work done by the Courts Ushers. They are on the front line in our courts and all of the ushers work very hard to ensure everything runs smoothly on a daily basis. They are always so cheerful, positive and helpful to all court users and there have been many instances when the ushers excellent communication skills have helped calm down people who appear before the judges.

During the past year The High Sheriff has been ably assisted by his two Volunteer Police Cadets, Ruby Hoath & Keiran Schmitt who have been present at many visits and events and undertaken their duties with efficiency and professionalism and are a credit to the Police Cadets of Surrey.

Sandra Levinge is the Chair of Second Chance Head & Neck Cancer Group, who are a charity based in Guildford, Surrey. Normally they cover Surrey, West Sussex, East Hampshire and South Middlesex areas, but on-line, there is no limit so they are happy to include anyone no matter where they are. They are a group of former patients and professionals who work in related fields – all volunteers who believe that good up to date knowledge and real experience is going to be very valuable to patients, and they continue to support patients for as long as they are needed. Find out more at https://www.headandneckcancer.life.

John Hams – HMP Service – As well as his general day to day tasks in Waste Management, John (a skilled carpenter) takes on various ‘handyman’ tasks for the benefit of the establishment. He has removed a disused, collapsed water tank in the gardens (which had been costed at £3000 on an AWR quote), he has made the little wooden book hut that is outside OMU, and is currently renewing timber (recycling wood from the in-cell furniture replacement) on the end gables of the polytunnels saving the prison thousands of pounds.  These are to name just a few of the projects he has taken on and he always includes the prisoners he works with, teaching them new skills. John and his wife also volunteer their time on a Friday afternoon to run the Line Dancing group.  The feedback from the women on the group is phenomenal – describing it as the highlight of their week and how they don’t feel as though they are in Prison for the 2 hours they are line dancing.To summarise – John is a good egg! The outcomes for women are brilliant as he adds to the tapestry of activities that enrich the lives of our population.

Other photographs of High Sheriff Awards presented during the evening. The High Sheriff would like to congratulate all recipients and thank them for their contribution to society.

ALL PHOTOS BY STEVE PORTER.