Kate is a Crime Prevention Officer with Northamptonshire Police. She was nominated by Terry Steers the Chairman of Northampton Pubwatch for her work supporting the scheme.
He stated that her involvement in Northampton Pubwatch began in 2001. At that time, she was employed as a Community Safety Officer and assisted the town centre sergeant responsible for policing the night-time economy, to set up the local scheme. Following the inaugural meeting she took responsibility for developing policies and procedures for the scheme, some of which have been utilised by National Pubwatch in developing its own good practice documentation.
Kate provided secretarial support for the fledgling scheme. In the early years this was part of her police role; but as time moved on her responsibilities within the police service had a different focus. However, her passion for the Pubwatch scheme was such, that since 2011, she has maintained secretarial support in her own time.
She has provided support and guidance to a number of incoming Chairs to ensure that the scheme is well run and compliant for data protection. She understands the difficulties if maintaining impartiality due to her employment in Northampton Police and carries out her role with integrity.
Kate has been responsible for introducing numerous local initiatives to improve safety in the night-time economy and she has promoted Pubwatch as part of her roles in Community Safety and latterly Crime Prevention. Many of the initiatives were key to helping Northampton win the National Pubwatch annual Pubwatch Award in 2012. For example, she runs a regular ‘Pubwatch’ stall at the University of Northampton Freshers Fair to target vulnerable 1st year students, engaging with them to promote a ‘safer night’ ethos.
Terry says:
“Kate has been the backbone of Northampton Pubwatch since its inception. Her tireless efforts ensure that the scheme runs smoothly and has been integral in making the scheme a success. She has dedicated her personal time to Pubwatch, alongside her crime prevention work, sometimes even replying to emails and doing admin work into the early hours. Personally, since taking over as Chairman, Kate has been invaluable in guiding and teaching me how to fulfil my role. Without Kates advice and guidance, I would have been lost taking on a job I had never done before.”
The nomination was supported by two former Chairpersons; Neil Bartholomey and Paul McManus.
Neil described Kate as:
“The glue that kept the Watch together and ensured that the things that needed to be done, were done before we even thought about them.”
Paul said:
“Each Chairman over the last 18 years have been given a smooth induction, because Kate is there by their side, steering them steadily along the tricky path they navigate.”
Former Police Licensing Sergeant Martin O’Connell stated that the success of the Pubwatch partnership was down to Kate Purves dedication and that her knowledge and skills were important to implementing projects that benefited the night-time economy. In addition, he said:
“On top of that, Kate gives up hours of her own time, alongside work and family commitments, sometimes into the early hours, to the general administration of Northampton Pubwatch; without which I truly believe that the scheme would not function in the way that it has for many years.”
And finally, National Pubwatch Regional Representative Mark Worthington highlighted Kates commitment and hard work over many years in supporting the local scheme and that she is thoroughly deserving of the award. He said: “She is a credit to Northampton Pubwatch and I do wonder what will happen, if and when she decides to leave the scheme; she has extremely large boots to fill.”
