Debra Green writes:

"When I first began to think about praying for our Police force in Greater Manchester, back in 1997, I thought of the Police as a kind of impersonal body; a faceless organisation that existed to protect our way of life. Since then I have become close friends with a number of police officers and have gained a clear understanding of the job they do and the pressures they experience. I’ve also become aware of the person behind the badge and have been embarrassed at how easily I had lost touch with the simple fact that every police officer is also a normal human being with the same needs, challenges, hopes and fears as the rest of us."

Building on 11 years of prayer for the Police and the communities they serve, since our first initiative in Geater Manchester in 1998, the Redeeming Our Communities initiative was launched regionally (North West) in 2004 and then Nationally at the NEC, Birmingham in 2006. We have seen a huge growth in our links with the police, and witnessed the development of relationships between the Church and the Police. We have also seen many instances of crime reduction in areas where there has been a praying community.

In June 08 we held an event in Manchester which was attended by 9 Chief Constables including the new Chief of Police for GMP, who at the time had yet to be appointed. In September 08 it was announced that Peter Fahy, who had been one of our VIP guests in June as Chief Constable for Cheshire, would be appointed to the role. Debra met him in September 08, opening up the opportunity for the church to work more closely with GMP in 2009. This included hosting a large-scale city-wide event in parnership with the Police on June 24th 09.

The 2008 National Prayer Event also was the catalyst for meetings with Merseyside Police, which has led to the launch event at the Echo Arena on June 16th 09. These events have prompted the development of a new strategy for working with cities across the UK.

This strategic approach will see us launch Redeeming Our Communities in 10 cities in the next few years. We will be forming or developing links with churches and organisations in the cities to establish local needs, and will follow this with a high profile launch event to act as a catalyst for transformational projects in the city. The following meetings are scheduled to discuss further work.

Meetings in Bristol August 21st .
Meetings in Liverpool September 8th.
Meetings in Leicester September 9th.
Meetings in Birmingham September 10th
Meetings in London October 9th.
Meetings in Manchester October 5th & 8th
ROC conference November 6th-7th in Northants.
Barnstaple, Devon November 29th
A Return trip to ROC Jersey February 3rd 2010.

Talks are currently taking place with other Cities and counties including; Leicester, Bristol, Bedforshire, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Merseyside, Manchester, London and Birmingham. This is part of our 10 Cities strategy which is being delivered over the next 3 years. We hope that we can make a significant contribution to transformation in key centres in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.