ANDREA QUINTON

Smiling woman wearing a

I retired from policing in June 2023 having served the community of Greater Manchester for 34 starting as a Special Constable, working my way through varying roles to my final post as Superintendent in the North West Armed Policing Collaboration working across all the North West forces. Policing the public of the UK has been one of the privileges of my life (alongside being a mum). 


I am incredibly proud of our UK police service. Police officers go to work every day willing to put their life on the line to protect the public. This also means they see more harm in a shift than most of us witness in a lifetime. Many pay the ultimate price and have been murdered in the line of duty – Ian Dibell, Nicola Hughes, Fiona Bone, Dave Phillips, Keith Palmer, Andrew Harper to name just a few.


It was after Dave Phillips death when I posted a heartfelt open letter to the public on a then little known Facebook group – Thin Blue

Line UK. The letter went internationally viral, and because of the support offered by the founder Gary, I then became involved in the charity.

 

I have attended all the fundraising balls, doing much of the planning for the 2019 Manchester Ball. Initially the money raised was shared with existing police charities like UKCops, Police Care UK and The Police Treatment Centres, but as we grew, we opted to become a charity focusing on supporting officers with managing their mental health, so often damaged because of their work.

 

The Thin Blue Line UK has gone further in creating a range of products available for purchase. More recently we have partnered with Thrive - an NHS approved mental health app, and with Blue Light Wellbeing to provide retreats for officers and those who have retired through ill health. We also continue our partnership with Denmark Thin Blue Line. 

 

The founder (Gary), and fellow trustees are incredible human beings who give up much of their spare time to run the charity. I class them all as my friends. I have taken on the role of engaging with Ambassadors, and our dream is to have an ambassador in every force across the country, so please contact me if that is something you would be interested in hearing more about. 

 

Thank You