Who are the #HiddenHeroes and why do they need their own day?
Thousands of professionals give their all in the justice system and youth services every day, but do so behind closed doors. Now is the time to celebrate their contributions
The pandemic led us to better appreciate the work of everyday people such as nurses, supermarket workers and bus drivers, as we suddenly saw just how important their roles were to keeping us safe, and society moving. Yet there is another group of public servants who don’t often get the same level of admiration. Despite performing pivotal societal roles, the hidden nature of their jobs has led them to being described as #HiddenHeroes.
The #HiddenHeroes movement started in 2020 as a way to highlight and celebrate the work being done by people working in Britain’s prisons, immigrant removal centres (IRCs), probation and youth services. These are jobs that are performed – quite literally in some cases – behind closed doors.
Often, professionals in these sectors will come into lives at their lowest points – at the beginning of a jail sentence, for example, or when a child is being taken into care. As such, they can so often be associated with negative stories and – despite trying to help those in their care – can become a magnet for the frustrations of their service users and their families. As radio presenter Zoe Ball described these roles on her BBC2 breakfast show last year when highlighting the #HiddenHeroes campaign: “They are challenging at the best of times.”
Another famous name to lend her support to the cause is HRH The Princess Royal. Princess Anne is a patron of The Butler Trust, a charity dedicated to “celebrating and promoting the best in UK prisons, probation and youth justice” and is the founder of the #HiddenHeroes movement and a new national day of celebration, #HiddenHeroesDay.
The first annual #HiddenHeroesDay was first held in September last year, and it will return on September 29th, 2021. Just like last year, The Butler Trust is hoping to use it as a platform to share positive stories of people working in these sectors that focus on how they have made a positive difference to so many people’s lives.
The charity is encouraging everyone to join in again this year to help them to raise the profile of the #HiddenHeroes and to give the community a much-needed morale boost. While this campaign is purely about raising awareness, The Butler Trust is also doing some fundraising by encouraging people working in these sectors to raise money for fellow charity Mental Health UK. So far, the #HiddenHeroes community has raised more than £22,000 through events such as sponsored walks and sports events, bake sales and raffles.
This fundraising drive has been targeted at a mental health charity to reflect the reality that many service users in prisons, IRCs, probation and youth services need support with their mental health. Looking after their own mental health is also an important issue for our #HiddenHeroes, who work under incredible pressures every day in emotionally fraught situations.
So, the next time you see sign celebrating NHS heroes or essential workers, take a moment to stop and consider the incredibly important, yet often thankless, work being behind closed doors by our nation’s #HiddenHeroes. And if you have a positive story to share, why not do so on social media this #HiddenHeroesDay.
