Students and staff at Outwood Academy City in Sheffield support £3.2m Emergency Services Cenotaph campaign

Students and staff at Outwood Academy City took part in the #UniteTheUniforms event to raise awareness of the project by wearing the colours of the emergency services uniforms on Friday, December 3.

The campaign for a 999 Cenotaph, which is supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge; the Prime Minister; First Ministers of NI, Scotland, and Wales; and all emergency services, was started by Tom Scholes-Fogg, founder and CEO of the Emergency Services Cenotaph.

The Emergency Services Cenotaph is a registered charity aiming to raise the money to build the 999 Cenotaph that will honour everybody who has ever served in the NHS and emergency services.

In the build up to the event, students at the school had been learning about this remarkable campaign and how Mr Scholes-Fogg’s grandfather had lost PC Alison Armitage, one of his officers, in the line of duty at the age of only 29.

Mr Scholes-Fogg’s grandfather said to his son that ‘in this country we don’t look after our emergency services as much as we should’, which sparked his enthusiasm for the campaign.

Andrew Downing, principal at Outwood Academy City, said: “As a country, we rely on around two million people who work in the emergency services, 250,000 of them first responders. We believe it is only right that our school community spends a day recognising the tremendous efforts that our uniformed services put in every day.

“We are proud to do our small part in this fantastic campaign to create a permanent focal point to appreciate the work of all these unsung heroes.”

In addition to learning more about the campaign, the students also discovered that over 7,500 members of the emergency services have lost their lives in the line of duty, with many of them being moved by this due to having family members who work in the emergency services.

Molly, a year 10 student there, said: “I have first hand experience of my parents working through the pandemic, I believe we should show our support for the frontline workers.”

Another year 10 student, Ruby, added: “I think it’s great that we have learnt about the 999 Cenotaph at school, as I believe it is something that is really important. I think it’s awful that over 7500 frontline workers have been killed in action and we should honour these people.”

The design for the 999 Cenotaph features eight members of the emergency services back-to-back in their first response uniforms, and reflects the diverse nature of the services today.

Mr Colliver, who coordinated the fundraising efforts at the school, added: “It’s important that our school and community come together to honour the frontline 999 heroes who have worked and continue to work all hours through this pandemic.

“I have seen how hard my own family members have worked and have put others first through the toughest of times working for the NHS.”