9 November 2026
Ahead of the THE Awards on 26 November, our Partners have been speaking with those shortlisted for the AQ-sponsored awards, hearing the stories behind their submissions and learning more about the people, ideas and achievements making a real difference across higher education. It’s been a great opportunity to hear directly about their work and share the impact they’re having across the sector.
In this interview, Claire Lauder spoke to Tony Blockley, a former police officer with 30 years’ service who now helps shape the next generation of officers at Leeds Trinity University, about their shortlisted submission for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community.
Every new police officer trained by Leeds Trinity University (LTU), which delivers the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship for West Yorkshire Police, now spends time in the mosques, churches, gurdwaras and temples of Bradford and West Yorkshire; since 2024, every cohort of apprentices has taken part in the Faith Trail, meeting faith leaders and communities in their own spaces, sharing food and asking questions before they ever arrive on duty.
Not a problem, an opportunity
Tony joined the police in 1980, and counting his time in academia, he has been in and around policing for about 45 years. He is quick to say he is not a “back in my day” type and “I’m looking at the current policing models and challenges and asking: is there a different way of doing it? Not necessarily a better way.”
Trust and confidence in policing are under pressure nationally, and confidence among Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities has long lagged behind. For Tony, much of the answer lies in how officers are educated. “People often say you don’t need a degree to be a police officer,” he says, “and that may be true in the purest sense. But you definitely need the education that sits behind it. The world is complex, and that education is what builds a deeper level of understanding.”
Police training has traditionally followed a set delivery model built around the law and the procedure that follows from it. Emotional intelligence and human behaviour are part of that training, but there is limited room to explore them in depth. West Yorkshire Police serves a highly diverse range of communities, and the LTU team saw an opportunity to build on what officers were already learning, giving them a depth of understanding that a higher education setting is well placed to provide. Part of that was about addressing fear, whether it be the communities’ ingrained fear of the police force, or the trainee police officers’ fear of serving environments and cultures they are unfamiliar with. “The intention was really to break down the barriers of fear,” Tony says. “It’s not only educating officers to understand those communities, it’s giving them the confidence to go into them.”
On the trail: food, headwear and honest conversation
Before the visits, officers study the migration histories of Bradford and West Yorkshire and reflect on the discrimination and past policing practices that have shaped how communities see the police. Then they visit gurdwaras, mosques, churches, temples and community centres, where community leaders talk about their faith, what it means to them, and how policing is viewed in their community. Officers cover their heads and take off their shoes where needed, and they eat – every place they visit has got food!
The point is to meet communities for the first time in a controlled setting, not a hostile one, “If I’m on duty and I walk into a mosque, I’m there for a policing purpose,” Tony explains, “people are often in a defensive position, but if you go in from a more open, honest, non-confrontational context, there’s a much more open dialogue.”
And it works in both directions, with community leaders and residents talking to officers without any agenda, and officers learn that asking questions is allowed, “as a society, we’re afraid to ask questions because we think we might insult somebody,” Tony says “actually, it’s okay to ask questions.” That matters because police often arrive at moments of crisis, for a victim or during an arrest, and it is much better to have a level of understanding at that point, rather than trying to work it through once you’re in there.
The architect behind it
Tony is keen to give credit where it is due; the principal architect of the Faith Trail is Dr Javed Bashir, a respected figure in Bradford’s Muslim community. Dr Bashir’s position made the programme possible, as he understands the communities, and they talk to him in a way they often don’t to the police. He also understands the West Yorkshire Police perspective through its community outreach teams, so through his connections, he brokered the engagement with faith institutions and helped plan the visits.
Learning that stays with them
Since 2024, more than 500 officers across 10 cohorts have taken part. The Faith Trail sits on top of the national curriculum set by the College of Policing, which LTU delivers for West Yorkshire Police as part of the apprenticeship. The question for the team was how to go beyond classroom teaching.
He calls the result “very powerful”, moving officers from surface-level to deeper learning because they are doing it, not just reading about it. Officers report more confidence engaging with diverse communities and a better understanding of faith, migration and identity. The communities taking part and senior officers working on race and inclusion have all talked about it in high praise.
The benefits reach beyond the classroom – by creating space for open dialogue, the Faith Trail is building relationships between future officers and the residents they will serve. West Yorkshire Police and the participating faith organisations now see it as a sustainable model for community-centred police education.
What other universities can learn
Commit to it, or don’t start. Tony’s firmest advice is about consistency. Every LTU cohort goes on the Faith Trail, without exception. “If you start something, you’ve got to stick with it, because otherwise it becomes tokenistic,” he says. “If you do a couple and stop because you’re told to, don’t do it at all. It’s an insult to those communities.”
It can work anywhere. Tony sees no reason other forces and regions couldn’t adopt the model, scaled to their local communities. In his Derbyshire policing days, one area of Derby of about two square miles was estimated to have 180 different languages and dialects. “Most forces, most counties have some diversity,” he says. Policing already trains officers in depth on specific areas such as violence against women and girls. “If we do it for one thing, why can’t we do it for another?”
Universities are well placed to lead. Communities may hold a natural mistrust of the police, Tony notes, so it is often easier for universities to build those relationships. But it takes ambition beyond the minimum. “We’ve got a curriculum to deliver, we’re paid to deliver it, we get our money, we’ve done our job,” he says. “What you’ve got to have is the insight and foresight to ask: how can we make education more valuable than just reading a book?”
He puts the choice simply. Officers could write 4,000 words on community disparity, “or you spend a day going into places of worship, seeing communities, speaking to community leaders. Where’s the best learning?” His message to the sector is clear: “Think more broadly about what education is. It’s not just PowerPoints and writing essays. It’s about engaging and being involved in those areas where you are going to learn.”
We’re looking forward to celebrating the achievements and successes of higher education institutions across all the awards next month, and recognising the fantastic work taking place across the sector. To see the full shortlist of the THE Awards, visit their website at https://the-awards.co.uk/2026/en/page/shortlist.
