By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
In the immediate aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, Stuart Cowan was part of a search team deployed to sift through the debris looking for body parts and evidence.
Almost a decade later, the trauma of that search operation as an officer with the British Transport Police (BTP) remains with him – and is fueling his passion to campaign for improved mental wellbeing services for colleagues both in the UK and across Europe.
Cowan, who is now the national chair of the BTP Federation, has been put in charge of a new mental health working group representing police federations across Europe.
The European Confederation of Police (EuroCOP) – the umbrella body for police unions and staff organisations in Europe – believes mental health must be embedded into working culture, not treated as a secondary or reactive issue.
And Cowan is leading the charge.
“One of my passions is improving the conditions and mental wellbeing of those in policing,” he told 1919. “My strapline is if we are in a position to help someone, then we should help someone.
“I talk about coping mechanisms and challenges I faced after the Manchester terrorist attack.
“I went down the next day and was part of the search team, so I was effectively on my hands and knees picking up bomb parts and body parts.
“And the fact that the Ariana Grande concert was aimed at those who were the same age as my daughter at the time meant there was a personal impact. It hit home. That’s where my passion and experience came from.”
As part of his new role, Cowan and his counterparts on the working group sent out a survey on mental health to the 35 police unions and staff organisations that make up EuroCOP.
It found that 59 per cent of members feel there is still stigma around mental health in their organisation, while only half reported having a known formal mental health or wellbeing strategy.
“One of my passions is improving the conditions and mental wellbeing of those in policing”
Stuart Cowan, BTP Federation national chair
“The dwindling resources over the years is being felt to officers’ detriment out on the street”
David Threadgold, SPF chair
The survey also revealed that just 14 per cent of member organisations identified and responded to early signs of stress, trauma or burnout, while 72 per cent said stigma is the biggest barrier to members accessing mental health support.
Cowan said: “We sent it out to all EuroCOP members about what their forces are doing around mental wellbeing and, unbelievably for a police survey, we got an 85 per cent response.
“That does not happen in police surveys, so my big takeaway from that was that it shows that people are invested in this, that they want to help, and they want to be part of it.
“I think it shows there’s a combined passion and eagerness there to have this grow, and the sky’s the limit with what we can do with it.
“It’s very clear that throughout Europe a lot of good work is being done, so let’s collaborate and share that, take the best practices from each other and build on that.”
At the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Bravery Awards in 2023, Cowan was presented with the special chair’s award, along with Gary Thwaite, former chief executive of the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, after they completed a 500km fundraising hike from Cumbria to West Dulwich in London.
The pair raised more than £16,000 for PTSD999, a not-for-profit organisation which supports emergency service workers with their mental health.
David Threadgold, SPF chair, said: “Being exposed to trauma in policing is inevitable, from within Scotland to colleagues working during the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine.
“The common theme, and the main challenge, is how organisations provide effective mechanisms to ensure that they can look after their people.
“This challenge is clearly as prevalent across Europe as it is in Scotland, and this working group is the culmination of several discussions to use the positive impact and relevance of EuroCOP to address it.”
Cowan added: “With mental wellbeing we’re never going to get to that stage where we can tick that box and say we’ve completed it, because there are always going to be challenges, but what I want to see is a real focus on early intervention, a real focus on being proactive and addressing the issues at an early stage.
“In policing things tend to be reactive, but the problem with that is that you’re locking the gate after the horse has bolted, so you really need to get there at an early stage. This is where EuroCOP can come in and can take this to Brussels and there can be changes made in that significant area.
“Everyone wants involved in this, everyone wants change, and having the weight of EuroCOP behind that can only be a good thing.”