Police Mutual, the not-for-profit financial services provider, revealed that it had provided just under £2.1m in 2017 towards wellbeing initiatives which help improve the lives of its 200,000 Police family members across the country, with South Wales being one of the areas which benefitted.  

“Wellbeing is at the heart of what makes life happy and satisfying. We know that one of the easiest ways to improve wellbeing is to be part of a supportive community, because a strong support network helps make individuals more resilient, content and fulfilled. The wellbeing initiatives we run – from financial education sessions and health screenings, and our BeFit4Life roadshows, through to Force for Good – have a positive effect on Police Mutual members and their families, as well as the people they interact with through work and their local communities” says Stephen Mann, Chief Executive of Police Mutual.

Between 2015 when the award winning[1] national community sponsorship programme, Force for Good, began and 2017, 12 projects have been successfully nominated by members of the South Wales Police family.  Today, Police Mutual announces new 2018 South Wales recipients with four initiatives sharing £500. These include: 

  • Busy Hands Knitting Group, part of the 3Gs Community Development Trust

Busy Hands was set up by Andrea Thomas who previously worked as a teaching assistant at Goetre Junior School. Originally set up as a place for young people to learn to knit or crochet in a safe environment, as the group became increasingly popular, it was opened up to the older generation and very quickly became a unique inter-generational knitting group with ages ranging from aged 7 years to over 80.

Andrea says, “The initiative has united the old and young generations in traditional crafts, providing them with lifelong skills. The funding from Police Mutual will go towards purchasing more materials such as peg looms and new yarn, enabling the group to continue to learn new skills and providing them with an environment in which they can socialise.”

  • Community film making group, Film Focus Wales, who use filmmaking to engage people from different ages, abilities and circumstances, meeting at ‘The Wales Millennium Centre’
  • Hope Rescue, which aims to help the welfare of dogs across South Wales
  • Social coach trips for Rhigos Old Age Pensioners Group

Police Mutual’s support for South Wales is also demonstrated by the fact that in the last two years (2016 and 2017) Police Mutual has delivered locally 32 Financial Education courses in South Wales Police stations, reaching 529 members of the Police family with tools to help them manage their finances.   

Since 2012, Police Mutual has supported over 600 Police Staff and their families with respite breaks, an important time-out when they needed it most such as when coping with illness, injury or a traumatic event like bereavement. As well as this, 35 free dementia respite breaks were provided across 15 different forces, to help those caring for a loved one with dementia, allowing them to take some time away from the normal routine of daily life.

Police Mutual is a financial services organisation that is more than 150-years old.  It serves the Police family, including serving and retired Police Officers, Staff, Specials, and their family members.   All of these are eligible members who are entitled to take up the full range of Police Mutual products and services including savings and investments; whole-of-market mortgage advice; car and home insurance and healthcare scheme. Police Mutual’s not-for-profit status means everything we do is for the benefit of the members.

Nationally in 2017, Police Mutual helped improve its members’ financial wellbeing in a number of ways including:

•         5,300 new Police Mutual members started the savings habit by taking out a Regular Savings Plan

•         Over 77,000 members have Regular Savings Plans

•         £2.8m paid out through its healthcare scheme on tests and diagnostic consultations and £4.3m in treatments for members which included:

    • Over 4,000 physiotherapy sessions
    • Over 13,000 treatments including 464 operations on hips and knees

•         Since July 2017, over 58,000 people have used Police Mutual’s online pension calculator

Stephen Mann concludes: “Our focus on improving the lives of those who protect us is our way of showing support for what members of the Police do which is why giving back to our members will remain at the heart of everything we do, and why we strive to go even further in 2018.”