Police Arboretum Memorial Trust

When was it established?

The Police Arboretum Memorial Trust was started in 2015 to establish a new UK Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the nation’s year-round place for remembrance, ceremony and quiet reflection.

What is it for?

The Police Arboretum Memorial Trust, a registered charity, is currently undertaking a campaign to raise at least £4million to design, build and maintain the new UK Police Memorial. Since 1749 and the creation of the Bow Street Runners as the world’s first recognised police service, more than 4,000 men and women have given their lives to serve and protect our communities in the UK.

The vision for the new memorial is to pay tribute to the UK’s police service and to honour the dedication, courage and sacrifice of its members who have given their lives to serve and protect their communities, complementing other police memorials around the UK.  It will also help foster a national sense of pride and value in our police service for generations to come.

The new Memorial has been designed in consultation with police family stakeholders and will include permanent inscription of the names of both officers and staff who have sustained injuries and subsequently died in the discharge of their lawful duties.  This will run to over 1800 names initially but sadly will be added to in the years to come.

The Memorial will also have a strong digital presence, enabling commemoration of all those who have served, allowing tributes to be paid by the public. Onsite apps will call up the names of the fallen and tell their stories. Cut-outs of the Memorial fabric will be engraved with the names of the fallen and given to their families as permanent keepsakes for remembrance.

The Trust will ensure that an investment fund is available at the end of the project to maintain the Memorial for the nation and to be used to help support the families of the fallen, in partnership with other organisations who provide care.