Surrey’s Annual Mock Trials.

Last year, shortly before I was installed as High Sheriff, I was asked if I could attend the Surrey Mock Trials at Guildford Crown Court. It was such a fantastic event and I was therefore thrilled to be invited back with Suzanne this year.

It is run by volunteers from the Surrey Magistrates Association and also involves a number of people involved in the criminal justice system freely giving their time so that a number of Year 8 pupils can participate in a mock trial and see behind the scenes what happens in the courts.

There were six schools competing. They are given information about the trial in advance and they take in turns to act as prosecution and defence and play all the other roles in court before a team of judges. It all takes place in Court One of the Crown Court so it gives them a fully authentic experience.

When not enacting the trial, the teams get an opportunity to quiz a panel including a Crown Court Judge, a magistrate, a barrister, a crown prosecution service officer and a police detective. Afterwards they get to tour the holding cells and a prison van. There are also stalls manned by the High Sheriff Youth Awards, the Police Cadets and Fearless (past of Crimestoppers).

I get to present the High Sheriff Shield to the winning Surrey School, who this year was Christ’s College and I am pictured with them and the shield on the steps outside the courts.

Swearing In Our New Magistrates.

I was delighted to be present for the swearing in of new Magistrates at Guildford Crown Court last week.

It was the second swearing in ceremony I have attended. Surrey now has around 185 magistrates but are looking for more! Over 95% of criminal cases are heard in the Magistrates Courts, and this will probably rise after new legislation increases their sentencing powers. 

Being a magistrate is a voluntary position, involving a few weeks of training and mentoring and then the expectation that you will devote a minimum of 13 days a year; so it can often be fitted in around other employment or after retirement. It is a vital part of the criminal justice system and I was therefore also delighted, at my High Sheriff Award Ceremony earlier in the week, to recognise the Surrey Bench Management Team, themselves all volunteer magistrates, but who also administer and manage the other magistrates and the running of the courts. 

I was delighted to see one of the people being sworn in was Sallie Barker, previously Mayor of Guildford and who sits on the Guildford Philanthropy Panel with me.  

(The Surrey Bench Management Team – receiving a High Sheriff Award last week)

The High Sheriff Awards Ceremony 2026.

High Sheriff Awards Ceremony 2026.

One of the privileges of being High Sheriff is that during your shrieval year you are able to witness the amazing contributions made by so many people and organisations across the County for the benefit of our local community; whether through public service, charitable work or volunteering. Suzanne and I have met countless people selflessly giving their time, experience and expertise for the benefit of others. 

Another privilege of being High Sheriff is that I can give an award to some of these individuals and organisations as a public recognition of their great and valuable service to our community and hold a ceremony so that they can be acclaimed. 

As I approached the end of my term in office and looked back at the places I have visited and the people I met, I realised how difficult it was going to be to select those deserving of a High Sheriff Award. In truth I probably could have filled the sizeable Holy Trinity Church on Guildford’s High Street several times over with deserving people; but in the end I was thrilled to hand out 38 awards. I also had the privilege of presenting a special award to ‘Edge of Change’ on behalf of National Crimebeat.

It was such a pleasure for Suzanne and I to host this event and we were delighted to be joined by The Mayor of Guildford – Howard Smith, The Chairman of Surrey County Council – Tim Hall,  and the High Sheriff in Nomination, Mrs Joosje Hamilton who takes over as High Sheriff on the 10th April,  to acclaim the award winners.

There are too many recipients of awards to mention here but you can read the citations in the programme, a PDF of which is available HERE.

I was also delighted to acknowledge the help and support I have enjoyed throughout my shrieval year from Simon Butler, my Chaplain;  Caroline Breckell MVO DL the Under Sheriff;  my two cadets Grace and Imogen, Andy Newbold, for the photographs and social media posting and Alison Burrows for helping with all the admin! 

Most of all it was a privilege to thank all of the people and the organisations who received awards – you are all inspiring and a credit to your County. 

A Great Opportunity for Young People – The Volunteer Police Cadets.

I was delighted to visit, with Suzanne, the newest police cadet unit in Surrey. Based at Ashcombe School in Dorking the Mole Valley Unit opened four weeks ago and already has 20 cadets who have come from a number of local schools.

They meet on Tuesday evenings and welcome all young people aged 13 to 17. It provides a safe and inclusive environment for cadets to learn about policing, develop positive relationships with the police and actively support their community; and it is completely free to join! The photo shows the new recruits who are being fitted up for their uniforms.

There are seven Volunteer Police Cadet (VPC) Units across Surrey, the others are located in the boroughs of Elmbridge, Guildford, Reigate & Banstead, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath and Woking and they meet one evening a week during academic term time and cadet deployments and events also take place at weekends and during the school holidays.

Why join the cadets?

Joining our Volunteer Police Cadet Scheme comes with a range of benefits including:

  • Making new friendships – Connect with like-minded peers and build lasting relationships.
  • Exciting activities – Take part in police-related training, games and team-building exercises.
  • Community involvement – Support your local area through volunteering and social action projects.
  • Personal development – Gain confidence, leadership skills, and an understanding of policing.
  • Career insights – Learn about policing in Surrey and explore potential future careers.

Becoming a volunteer police cadet in Surrey can help you develop a wide range of valuable skills including:

  • Communication skills – Improve your ability to interact confidently with different people.
  • Teamwork – Learn how to collaborate effectively in group settings through team activities.
  • Problem-solving – Develop your critical thinking and decision-making ability.
  • Leadership – Gain experience in taking initiative and guiding others.

You could even end up like Imogen and Grace and become a High Sheriff Police Cadet!

NEET – Next Steps for Young People.

On Tuesday 10th March we held our latest conference on how to make lasting changes to avoid young people becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), hosted by the ‘Centre for Britain and Europe’ at the Arthur C. Clarke Building – University of Surrey.

It was a great opportunity to review the progress that has been achieved since our first conference just under a year ago, after the research I commissioned on the NEET situation in Surrey had been published. I am pleased to say that in the past few month some significant advances have been made. I had the honour of supplying the opening remarks and handing over to Professor Amelia Hadfield, Maya Chew and Meg Ward from CBE, who then gave us a summary of the progress made. This was followed by a panel discussion outlining how a NEET Community of Practice would be created and sustained with Professor Hadfield, Dee Torvill, Catherine Powell, Leah Boxell and myself. 

Leah Boxell’s presentation which followed, was a powerful and inspiring offering which included some of her own experiences as a young NEET person, and she went on to explain how she intends to put it to good use to help others, initially in a pilot project in North Leatherhead. Her experience and the confidence in her delivery earned her a well deserved round of applause from the audience.

I then introduced an initiative that I recently launched with HHJ Patricia Lees and The Clink charity; renovating the kitchen in the Crown Court to become a training centre for 40 young people aged 16-18 each year with the cohort coming from care leavers, NEETs or those on the edge of the criminal justice system. Jonny Whitfield from The Clink explained how they will run a 12 week programme teaching skills and studying for up to 5 City & Guild Courses, whilst the young people are being mentored and helped with any behind the scenes issues. The Clink run a similar cafe in Herne Hill, and to date every young person who has completed the course has entered full time employment. 

We then had an emotional presentation ‘Youth Voice’ which featured two young students currently at Brooklands Technical College but both had previously spent time being NEET. They bravely related their stories to Emma Toby, which brought home to the audience the realities of being NEET and the challenges they faced. Another powerful offering which reminded us why we are trying so hard to change the way things are done and address the issue with such determination. 

The penultimate section was another success story where we were joined by Neelam Devesher MBE DL to introduce Sarah Davies – Surrey County Council‘s new NEET Partnership Coordinator, who will act as an interface between all Council departments which work with young people, liaise with the third sector, procure services from third parties and be a core part of the NEET Community of Practice. This was a role I had been very keen to see created, to put young people at the heart of everything and help prevent them from becoming NEET.

Finally the event wrapped up with a lively Q&A with members of the audience sharing their experiences and offering ideas. It was a constructive, interactive session, which showed the power of collaboration in coming together to solve problems.

As High Sheriff I am immensely grateful to the team at The Centre for Britain and Europe who have coordinated much of the work with a great level of professionalism and to the many people who have supported this initiative. One of the roles of High Sheriff is to convene and connect and it is a very rewarding experience when that process works as well as it has done so far. 

Conference at the University of Surrey.

More images available to view at – https://4730.tifmember.com/p/83064pfr/next-steps-for-young-people-view

Photography – Andy Newbold

It is Not Every Day You Get to Meet a Guardian Angel.

Suzanne and I were introduced to one, Charlene Peterson, by Gemma one of the mums of the families she supports.

The Peterson’s Fund for Children supports the lives of young people with severe mental or physical disabilities and their families; providing funding for a variety of therapies, specialised equipment and much needed respite care otherwise unavailable on the NHS. The aim is to improve their quality of life and to offer them opportunities in order to maximise their individual growth and potential. The Fund has grown through a number of fund-raising efforts but is sustained by an incredible charitable business that Charlene runs alongside called Suite 109 Costumes. She has amassed over 17.000 dance costumes, theatrical clothing, fancy dress and period wear over the past five years which are arrayed, catalogued and displayed in a converted industrial unit in West Byfleet.

I would urge any school, amateur dramatic society, dance company or fancy dress lover to visit the warehouse which is open every weekend or by appointment during the week (www.suite109costumes.co.uk), knowing that all funds go to the deserving of causes. www.petersonsfundforchildren.org

It was a pleasure also to meet Celeese, Donna’s daughter whose life (and the lives of her family members), has been transformed by their guardian angel.

HM Prison and Probation Service.

During my Shrieval year I have had the privilege of seeing Police work in operation, sat in on court sessions, visited prisons and met with charities which help rehabilitation; so I was delighted to have the opportunity of visiting the HM Prison & Probation Service in Staines with Suzanne this week to understand another part of the criminal justice system. There are three Probation centres in Surrey being in Staines, Guildford and Redhill.

I am extremely grateful for the time given and knowledge imparted by Linda Neimantas, Trudy Turner and Debbie Knight, firstly for giving insight into the probation service and then introducing us to various members of the team. It is common to hear about the challenges facing probation services, which will be exacerbated by the upcoming reforms, but it was good to hear that employment levels are rising in the service, although they are still running at 75% capacity.

We were delighted to also meet Jamie and Nicola who explained how AI was improving their working day by transcribing meeting notes and organising action points which means they can concentrate on their clients without having to manually take notes which later would need writing up. Also E-Supervision is being trialled so that in certain cases instead of making people on licence have to always come into the office they could be contacted and respond to questions on-line.

Charley and Natalie then outlined a new initiative of a breakfast club for women on licence, who could benefit from the social interaction of a group session rather than just having one to one meetings.

We next met two ladies who had nearly completed their training to become probation officers. They have been on an intense programme of 15 months. The programme is tailored depending on what education people had completed beforehand; but anyone can look to commence a career as a probation officer and it was a real joy to hear the enthusiasm from everyone we met.

We the heard about the role of the Victim Liaison Officer, who carries out the sensitive role of keeping victims informed of any information that can be disclosed about their offender, such as parole dates and release dates; and any special provisions that might need to be put in place.

And finally we met Peter and Jerry who are two of the team which lead those which have been given unpaid work orders. These orders can be for up to 300 hours and they are constantly looking for opportunities in the community where supervised unpaid work can take place. There are currently around 200 people carrying out unpaid work under this scheme in Staines. 

A thoroughly insightful and enjoyable visit.

[Pictured is Suzanne and I with with Trudy and Linda].

Woking – The Women’s Support Centre & The LightHouse – Woking.

On International Women’s Day, Suzanne and I attended an Open event at the Women’s Support Centre in Woking. It was our second visit to this inspiring place and it was wonderful to reacquaint ourselves with some of the amazing women here who provide help and reassurance to women in their community. We heard some impactful stories about how women had turned their lives around after misfortune and saw some of the creative sessions offered including art, reiki and crocheting.

We then took the opportunity to pop into see The Lighthouse in their new location. It was a hive of activity as it was community lunch day and also supplies of both food and toiletries were being distributed. Lucy gave us a guided tour and we ended up at The Cosy Coffee House upstairs and picked up a couple of delicious cheese scones to eat on the way to our next engagement. It was great to see The Lighthouse settled in its new home and being at the heart of the local community.

Bishop of Guildford – Andrew Watson. 1961-2026

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Bishop of Guildford -The Right Reverend Andrew Watson. 

Bishop Andrew who was just 64 at his passing, has held the role for the past eleven years and was a prominent and well-loved figure in the community. The Archbishop of Canterbury – Sarah Mullally who visited Andrew at home before he died, said that he was a “Man of deep Christian Faith who had made an enormous contribution to the life of the Church of England”. 

Andrew was suffering from pancreatic cancer – both aggressive and difficult to manage and he bravely announced his diagnosis publicly last month informing, his diocese that he may only have a month left to live, sadly an accurate estimate, and in his statement said, “I don’t fear the prospect of Dying and find, to my relief, that my faith in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting has only grown stronger over the past few weeks. I’ve sometimes had private worries that, when faced with the starkness of a terminal diagnosis, my faith in the risen Christ might falter. Well, it hasn’t. Or better still, God hasn’t faltered, quite the reverse”. 

During the past year in my role of High Sheriff, I have seen him at work on many occasions but I particularly recall the VE80 Service of Thanksgiving and his offering in May of last year where the picture was taken (Andrew is far right).  I also fondly remember the carol service we both attended in HMP High Down last December when he addressed the congregation of over 100 inmates. 

It has been heartwarming to read the many tributes to him, described as a generous and gentle man, inspiring, a very active and committed Christian, and of course courageous. His bravery had already been established when last year he faced (as he said) his ‘rather feeble fear of heights’ by abseiling from the roof of Guildford Cathedral as part of a programme of events which raised £28,000 for the ‘Bishop of Guildford’s Communities Fund’. This enabled ten grants to support community projects that are providing meals for vulnerable families, hosting cafes for those who are isolated, as well as funding youth and community work across Surrey and Hampshire. This is an annual campaign that is launched on the first day of Lent each year. 

Suzanne and I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to Andrew’s Family and our sincere thanks to him for his devoted service to the diocese. May the words he offered whilst facing the end of this life offer comfort to others in a similar situation and may he rest in peace. 

If you would like to donate in Andrew’s memory, find out more at; https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/about-us/news/bishop-of-guildford-appeals-for-record-levels-of-giving-this-lent.php

Congratulations to our Forthcoming Lord-Lieutenant, Neelam Devesher and the Next High Sheriff – Joosje Hamilton DL.

Many congratulations to Neelam Devesher on today’s announcement of her forthcoming appointment as His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey in September when Michael More-Molyneux CVO retires in September.

Neelam was due to succeed me as the High Sheriff of Surrey on the 22nd of March, but in light of today’s announcement she has requested that the Privy Council withdraw her name from the list of High Sheriffs in nomination for Surrey. On the 10th of March we anticipate that Mrs Joosje Hamilton DL will be pricked from the list of High Sheriffs for England and Wales as Sheriff for the County of Surrey for the Shrieval Year 2026/2027

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