Gatwick Police Station on route of "amazing relay" (From Redhill And Reigate Life)

Gatwick Police Station on route of "amazing relay"

11:09pm Monday 18th June 2012 in News

Gatwick Police Station will be joining with 14 other police stations across Sussex to form a thin blue line which a team of officers and staff will be running along in “an amazing relay.”

The stations, stretching from Gatwick down to Brighton and from Chichester across to Hastings and Eastbourne, will be uniting to form a 185-mile relay route.

The relay event has been organised by Sergeant Carrie Kwasniewski of Mid Sussex District Neighbourhood Policing Team, to raise money for a charity close to the Force's heart, The Chaseley Trust.

The Trust runs residential nursing care and support services from its main home, Chaseley, at Eastbourne, which is currently home to Sergeant Wendy Dowman.

Sgt Dowman was injured in a road collision while off-duty in September 2010 on the A267 at Hellingly in East Sussex.

As a result of the injuries she sustained in the collision, Wendy appears to remain in a low awareness state, is wheelchair bound, and requires full support with meeting all her physical and social needs.

The relay, which will be run from this Thursday (June 21) to Saturday, June 23, will finish at Chaseley.

Sgt Kwasniewski said: "I have known Sergeant Wendy Dowman for almost my whole career. She is a very good friend and colleague.

"I went to visit Wendy just before Christmas and she is so well looked after at Chaseley that myself and colleagues decided we had to do something to support the charity."

In fact, the Chief Constable of Sussex Police, Martin Richards, is to run the first leg of the marathon relay.

He said: "I am looking forward to running the first leg of the relay to support The Chaseley Trust and the fantastic work the charity does.

"Chaseley has become a home for Sergeant Dowman and now we would like to do something to assist them with continuing to care for her and others who require nursing care.”

He said: "I would like to commend Sergeant Carrie Kwasniewski for her dedication in organising this event."

Sue Wyatt, chief executive of the Chaseley Trust, said: "It is wonderful that this event is taking place with so many officers participating to raise funds and awareness throughout Sussex for our charity.

“This will greatly benefit the people who use our services and we are enormously grateful to Sergeant Carrie Kwasniewski for taking the initiative to organise this amazing relay."

The Chaseley Trust was set up in 1946 to look after servicemen and ex-servicemen.

The Trust also has a second innovative nursing home comprising of detached and semi-detached bungalows.

Nowadays, Chaseley cares for people from the age of 18 with all types of disability, from spinal injury, acquired brain injury and stroke, to Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease and a wide range of other neurological conditions.

The police relay will start at 7am on June 21 at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes, with Chief Constable Martin Richards and Deputy Chief Constable Giles York completing the first leg to Lewes police station.

The relay will then go to Newhaven, Brighton, Worthing, Bognor Regis and Chichester police stations, and the following day will travel to Horsham, Crawley, Gatwick and Haywards Heath stations, before on the final day taking in Uckfield, Battle, Hastings and Eastbourne police stations.

During the relay the runners will be supported by a team who will be collecting money along the route.

People can sponsor the runners online at: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/carriekwasniewski1 Website: www.chaseley.org.uk