Thank you campaign

Our 'Thank You' campaign offers a unique opportunity for forces, police officers and staff across the UK, to say thank you to family members and loved ones and acknowledge the support they provide on a daily basis.

On this page you will find all the details and assets to use this campaign in your own force.

Why we've created this campaign

Over the last few months we’ve been developing a programme of support for families. This is driven by the Police Covenant which means all police forces need to demonstrate they’re taking action to support families. We’re here to help you do that.

It’s early days because this is a huge area. We’ve started with in-depth research to understand some of the challenges policing families face.

We’ve already got resources, created by experts, on topics like mental and physical health, nutrition and finance available on our families' hub.

We won’t solve them all tomorrow, but one of the things we’ve heard is that a simple acknowledgement of how tough it can be, really helps. It helps people feel less alone, and more seen. Saying that it can be difficult, out loud, is the start of change.

That’s why, we’ve created this campaign, designed to help police forces across the UK acknowledge the support of families.

We’ve got some video content, imagery and suggested copy for you to use and make the campaign your own.

Why we need to say thank you

Working in policing is a challenging role – and not just for the person in the job. Families and loved ones deal with these challenges every day – from taking over childcare duties, accommodating irregular working hours or often spending time without their loved one.

By encouraging forces, police officers and police staff, to say thank you to their supporters at home, you can give families and loved ones the recognition they deserve.

What we want to say and who we want to say it to

The main aim of our 'Thank You' campaign is to reach loved ones and families of those working in policing – making them feel seen. 

  • We see you.

Working in policing can be tough – and not just for the person in the job. We know that it has an impact on family life – whatever size or shape your family takes.

  • Thank you.

We recognise how important your support is for officers and staff. Thank you for all that you do.

  • Oscar Kilo is here for families too. There’s help available for you.

It’s not possible to tackle everything immediately. Recognising the impact is a good place to start and there are resources with expert advice on key issues (from sleep to finances) available for families to access on this website.

Word of caution: How we want to say thank you

It’s early days for our 'OK family life' programme – and whilst it’s important to say thank you and make family members feel seen, we need to be careful how we say it.

As well as a lot of pride for their loved ones in policing, there is also a lot of frustration, anger and sadness about some of the realities.

We don’t have all the solutions yet and we can’t solve all problems overnight. But recognising the challenges is an important first step. And that’s what the campaign is for.

We'd love you to get involved

We’re kicking off the campaign on Monday 4 December 2023.

Oscar Kilo will be shouting about the campaign, saying thank you to policing families, on our own social media channels and website.

We’d love all police forces to get involved and say thank you to the families of their officers and staff.

December can be a time for families to come together and, of course, this isn’t always possible for policing families – so it might be a good moment to share the campaign.

But there’s no strict timeline – the thank you campaign can be shared at any time.

If you are a police force, and want to use the campaign - you can access the campaign resources from this page.

Oscar Kilo 'Thank You' campaign film

How to use

Please use this film on your intranet, in briefings and team meetings. Share the details of this film in internal news articles and newsletters to enable officers and staff to watch in their own time. Watch or share it on YouTube, access the film on Vimeo or you can contact us for a downloaded version of the film. Please signpost to this page for more information.

Intranet/newsletter copy

Oscar Kilo launches campaign to help police forces across the UK acknowledge the support of families.

Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, has launched a new ‘Thank You’ campaign to recognise the support families, of all shapes and sizes, give to officers and staff.

Alongside the campaign, Oscar Kilo has developed a families section with open access resources, created by experts, on topics like mental and physical health, nutrition and finance. Visit the OK family life section of the Oscar Kilo website.

This is just the start of the programme of support for families, which began with in-depth research to understand some of the challenges policing families face.

The challenges won’t be solved tomorrow, but one of the things that came through in the research is that a simple acknowledgement of how tough it can be, really helps. It helps people feel less alone, and more seen. Saying that it can be difficult, out loud, is the start of change.

That’s why the ‘Thank You’ campaign has been launched. It gives forces, officers and staff a chance to send their personal thank you messages, showing family members and loved ones that they’re seen.

The ‘Thank You’ campaign film recognises and celebrates the support given by families every day. It’s based on their real stories of the impact and some of the creative ways they manage.

You can watch the film here: oscarkilo.org.uk/thank-you

If you have a loved one who supports you, this is the perfect chance to take a moment to share the film, say thank you and show them you appreciate their support.

Postcards with personal thank you messages

To give officers and staff a chance to say thank you to family members and loved ones, we’ve created postcards. You can download them below or order printed copies for your force.

Download the postcard

If you want to add your own force logo let us know and we can share the original design files.

Front: Thank you to policing families

Thank You campaign front of postcard design

Back: A chance to write a personal message

Thank You campaign back of postcard design

Campaign images

We’ve also created an image bank with campaign photos and four social media graphics that you can download and use. 

 

Social media graphics

Short video clips

Please feel free to use these clips internally or externally as they fit with your campaign, they can be downloaded from YouTube.

Clip 1: Drying hair in driveway

Clip 2: Family reading bed time story

 

Clip 3: Birthday party

Social media messaging

Below are some suggestions for your social media posts. Please feel free mix and match these with the short video clips and campaign images above.

Short version:

Working in policing can be tough – and not just for the person in the job.

To the families and loved ones of our team, thank you for all you do.

If you need support, have a look at the resources from @OscarKilo_UK at www.oscarkilo.org.uk/family-life

Longer version:

Working in policing can be tough – and not just for the person in the job.

To the families and loved ones of our team, thank you for all you do.

This short film recognises and celebrates the support given by families, of all shapes and sizes, every day. It’s based on their real stories of the impact and some of the creative ways they manage.

If you need support, have a look at the resources from @OscarKilo_UK at www.oscarkilo.org.uk/family-life

Community activation

Make sure to tag the Oscar Kilo account when you post about the ‘Thank You’ campaign on your social channels – this will give us a chance to engage with and repost your messages on our channels.