Purpose
The Police Rehabilitation Trust was established in
1985 at a time when the escalating trend of injuries
incurred by police officers necessitated the provision
of a properly equipped and easily accessible rehabilitation
centre. The special facilities required have been available at Flint
House, Goring-on-Thames since 1988.
The Police Rehabilitation Centre (for full details
and admissions procedure refer to www.flinthouse.co.uk)
receives no support whatsoever from public funds either
for capital or revenue purposes. For the foreseeable
future, at least, such a decision is highly unlikely
to be reversed. Running costs are met from the voluntary
contributions of serving officers in the police forces
which the Centre serves. This Trust has, from the beginning,
concentrated its spending - through the generosity of
well wishers - on capital purposes, the development
of the Centre's special facilities and the purchase
of equipment.
Achievements
As its first major initiative, the Trust contributed
more than £1.5 million towards the purchase, conversion
and extension of Flint House which was opened by Queen
Elizabeth The Queen Mother in June 1988. Within only
a few years, the scale and nature of injuries inflicted
on police officers was exacerbated by increasing numbers
suffering from mental stress. The problem became so
acute that a decision was reached (never originally
contemplated) to extend Flint House and, effectively,
double its capacity. The Trust undertook to raise at
least £1 million but, in fact, contributed more
than that towards these development
costs. That accommodation was opened by
The Prince of Wales in December 1995.
By the mid 1990s, demand
for the Centre's facilities had grown to such an extent
that it was necessary to ration their use, by limiting
to ten days the maximum amount of time that an officer could spend at Flint House. This was too short a time to
allow a patient to derive full benefit.
Accordingly, land adjacent to Flint House
was acquired
for a 60-bedded building with a connecting corridor to the main Centre. This additional accommodation - Flint Fold - came into use in 2004. The Trust once again contributed in excess of £1 million towards this final development of the Police Rehabilitation Centre.
Over 30,000 police officers have so far been to Flint House. The majority have returned
to duty and all have had much praise for the care
and fellowship they have received there. Assessment
and tailored health packages, full hydrotherapy and
physiotherapy treatment facilities with therapy and
stress counseling are always available to the 140 officers who are patients at any time.
The Future
The Trust's future now rests with its providing further comforts and new equipment to replace that which has been in constant use for many years.
Further Information about the Trust and its present fund raising initiatives is available from:
The Director,
The Police Rehabilitation Trust,
Room 915,
Tintagel House,
Albert Embankment,
London SE1 7TT
Tel: 020 7587 0134
020 7587 0125 (answerphone)
Fax: 020 7587 0125
Email:
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