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17
Jun 2023
Honour for Harrogate's fundraising traffic officer
Sergeant Paul Cording is delighted yet slightly baffled to have been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours list.
The roads policing officer, who is based in Harrogate, has received a British Empire Medal for services to policing.
He told the Stray Ferret:
He has known about the award for around a month, having received a letter "on His Majesty's service". Sgt Cording said:
After his wife ended the call, Sgt Cording said "it got a bit emotional" as he told her what the letter contained.
Until last night, she was the only person he had told about the award, for which he was nominated by the chief constable's office.
Sgt Cording has been with North Yorkshire Police since the start of his career in 2001, moving into roads policing in 2010.
Leading a team of roads policing officers, he has become well-known for tweeting from the scene of collisions and sharing results from arrests.
He views that work as part of his role, saying:
Sgt Cording and his team also feature regularly on Channel 5's Traffic Cops, filmed across the region.
Agreeing to be on national TV was a step up from being on Twitter, but soon became second nature – and he believes has been another positive move in humanising the police. He said:
Read more:
- Knighthood among King's honours for Harrogate district residents
- Leading education pair in Harrogate now have matching royal honours
Sgt Cording's BEM is not just for his professional service to North Yorkshire Police, however.
It also recognises his charity work: the many challenges he has taken on to raise money for road safety organisations and other good causes.
He has completed the Marathon des Sables, the Great North Run, and other half-marathons over the last 15 years.
Earlier this year, Sgt Cording decided to cover 325km in just a week reflecting the 325 people killed or seriously injured on the roads of North Yorkshire in 2021.
It is the most recent in a string of fundraisers for charities including RoadPeace, Brake and Road Safety Talks, run by Lauren Doherty, who was left paralysed after being hit by a car while walking home when she was just a teenager.
She now shares her story with school children, emphasising the need to be careful at all times and describing the impact of her decision to cross a road at the wrong moment – not just on her, but on everyone around her.
Motivation
Lauren helped to put together the nomination for Sgt Cording's BEM, along with other people he has worked closely with over recent years.
He says supporting charities like Lauren's is a continuation of the work he and his team do every day:
There are personal reasons for some of his fundraising as well.
Over the last five years, four officers in North Yorkshire Police have taken their own lives, including Mick "Aky" Atkinson. Sgt Cording has been a regular participant in the Tour de Aky cycle ride in his memory
Sgt Cording recognises the challenges police officers can have in dealing with some of the harrowing scenes they face at work.
For him, as well as raising money, exercise is a way to maintain good mental health, getting out into nature and taking time away from his day job and his social media account.
There will be no getting away from the many messages he'll be receiving today though, after the honours list was published last night.
On shift from 7am, he's expecting to be providing the cakes for the team to mark the occasion. A date at Buckingham Palace awaits in the coming weeks.
Until then, it's business as usual.
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