The Volunteer Police Cadets make your journey with them safe whilst challenging; friendly yet exciting; open and responsible. We want you to really enjoy meeting new people, learning about the police and developing yourself to make real differences in your own life and community.
In order that we can do that we will support, to the best of our ability, any disability you may have, and make relevant adjustments for you to access as many of our activities that we can. We welcome young people from any background, ethnicity and gender. We will accept applications from young people that may have previously been in trouble with the police.
FAQs for Cadets
No, not to join. Most VPC units do not make weekly subscription (subs) charges either. There is usually no cost for your uniform provided you take care of it.
Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC) are open to 13 - 18 year olds. Junior Volunteer Police Cadets (JVPC) are open to 10 - 13 year olds. VPC units are far more widespread across the UK than are JVPC units, which are the newest addition to the VPC family.
No. We are not gender specific. We believe in equal opportunities whatever gender you define yourself as.
Yes, you still may be able to join even if you have a criminal conviction. Everyone deserves a second chance and we will try to manage any behaviours you may have been in trouble with in the past. We do not have a formal vetting process, but we will ask you to be honest with us on an application form.
Yes, you may still join. We do not judge people on their family background. It's not where you have been that interests us, it's where you are going!
One of the reasons why young people join the VPC is to volunteer in their own community.Over half of our cadets joined solely because they wanted to make a difference in their families and communities. We will give you local, national and even international social action opportunities where you volunteer an average of 3 hours a month.
No, we welcome cadets from all educational abilities. Some forces even offer the chance to gain skills based awards, such as the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and the ASDAN accredited VPC workbooks.
Yes you can. We try to be as inclusive as possible. For example, most of our units meet in educational premises which already have many facilities to assist disabilities. We will always support you to the best of our ability and make any reasonable adjustments for your health and comfort.
No. However you define your faith or non-faith bears no influence on your application.
The VPC will give you the opportunity to develop your own social skills. Our programmes will encourage your leadership, communication, presentation and learning skills that you will be able to use in your school, college and community. We offer first aid courses and other non-police based skill development.
No. We are not looking to make you future police officers. We want you to be able to make good decisions about your future whilst becoming good citizens. The police want to listen to your views in order that they can service the needs of young people in their communities.
Being a cadet will give you an insight into British policing and you may decide to join the wider policing family in the future. Being a cadet will not guarantee your future policing career, but it will help you make that decision.