From 4th – 8th November 2025, we celebrated our amazing COPS trustees, as part of the national #TrusteeWeek – a week dedicated to coming together to celebrate the achievements of nearly 1m trustees across the UK.
Trustees are all volunteers who make up the essential foundation on which the charity is built. They provide essential governance and help to develop the charity’s strategy, ensuring our purpose is clear and defined.
Our COPS trustee board is made up of three different types of trustees, all bring unique skills and experience from different sectors:
– Survivor trustees
– Police-related trustees
– Independent trustees
We belive that the combination of these types of trustees helps to provide the most balanced and effective leadership for COPS.
As part of the celebration, we asked four of our trustees to share a little about why they chose to become a trustee for COPS.
Chief Constable Chris Noble
“I did not hesitate when asked to take on the role of COPS trustee in 2022. I was honoured to be asked to act as trustee on behalf of all Chief Constables as their representative for a number of reasons.
“First, I have been aware of the work that COPS do for some time, in particular, that they focus on those left behind, those who survive the officer and who continue to bear the weight of losing a loved one who served their community with pride. I was delighted to do anything I could to support my fellow trustees, the incredible and hardworking staff in the COPS team, and most importantly, our survivors.
“On a personal note I was brought up both as a child of a serving officer in Northern Ireland, and then proudly served in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and then the PSNI, for over 21 years. These organisations suffered far too large a share of loss and tragedy, and of loved ones taken far too soon. A key focus of my leadership as a senior police officer is to ensure that the policing of today always keeps those who went before at the forefront of their mind.
“Finally, I was privileged to succeed Chief Constable Simon Cole in this role representing Chief Constables. Simon was one of a rare breed of police leader who lived out humility, empathy and decency whilst making a positive difference to others every single day. These are key characteristics for any COPS trustee to embody and especially the trustee representing the service of today.
“COPS trustees, survivors, staff and volunteers are key and lifetime members of the police family and my role is to ensure they remain so and have a resounding and influential voice within that family.”
Gill Marshall
“I became a beneficiary of Care Of Police Survivors in 2006 when my husband Alan was killed on duty. Myself, my daughters (then aged 2 and 4) and close family were welcomed into the COPS family and we have benefited from the support and dedication of COPS ever since.
“In 2017 I decided to apply to become a Trustee of the charity. I felt strongly that I should take the opportunity to give something back to COPS by becoming more involved in overseeing the running of the charity. Because of the make up of the board, with a mixture of Police, independent and survivor trustees, I realised the importance of having strong survivor voices to help guide the beneficiary offering and ensuring the best support possible is given to survivors.
“Over the next couple of years, I was so impressed by the dedication and commitment of my fellow trustees which saw the charity grow from strength to strength, that when the position of National President was advertised I decided to apply. I was delighted when I was offered the role in 2019. The role is really wide ranging and part of the position involves me making initial contact with police forces and the families of fallen officers to introduce them to COPS. I attend events and fundraisers to raise awareness of the charity and encourage donations of time and money to help the charity continue.
“I consider it a huge privilege to be part of the team which helps to ensure the success of COPS, enabling us to continue supporting bereaved families and ensuring that our fallen loved ones are never forgotten.”
Kevin McDonald
“I was born in Derbyshire to a working-class family and still live close to COPS HQ. I am currently the Managing Director of two companies: Sonic Communications and Panoptech. These companies had been supporters of COPS for many years, starting with our Policing Advisor Mick Foster, who was the COPS Chair of Trustees. Mick was instrumental in securing support for COPS and boosting our fundraising efforts.
“I personally have always had a passion for working with police – my Grandad was a Commended Police Officer who worked with the National Crime Agency, formerly Regional Crime Squad. So, when I saw the work that COPS did, I wanted to get involved, and was proud to join the COPS Board of Trustees in 2022.
“COPS is so important to Survivors, and being able to help and support them through their hardest times is what made me want to be involved. Creating communities and helping others have always been important to me, which is why I wanted to give my time to this worthy charity.”
Sir Peter Fahy
“I became a trustee of Care of Police Survivors following the deaths of police officers in my force and seeing the huge pain and loss experienced by loved ones and the need for long-term support.
“I spent 34 years as a police officer including 13 years as a chief constable and so I picked up governance skills, oversight and finance which I wanted to keep using. I enjoy the intellectual challenge of being a trustee, meeting and working with new people from different backgrounds and seeing a plan developed and put into place to support more people.
“I find there is little more satisfying than helping other people, making sure that money raised is spent well and enabling our great staff team and our volunteers to achieve their best for those who depend on us.”
We would like to send a huge thank you to all of our volunteer trustees for providing such incredible leadership and passion for COPS.