One of our Hopetoun residents, Denis Pridgeon, was surprised and delighted to receive a Victoria Police Veteran’s badge this month.
Serving at various stations in Melbourne and Traralgon for 12 years, Denis later transferred to Hopetoun where he served out the rest of his police career as the Office in Charge of the then-two-man station.
A quiet, unassuming man, Denis concedes that he saw “some pretty rugged things” during his time on the force.
Seemingly not one for too much fuss, a well-deserved fuss would soon come his way after a conversation Leisure and Lifestyle Assistant Lola Lynch had with her daughter.
You see, it just so happens that Lola’s daughter Rebecca is a social worker with Police Veterans Victoria, a not-for-profit organisation that supports police veterans and their families with a focus on improving mental health amongst the veterans and their families.
“We have 65 veteran peers across Victoria, who catch up with former officers to reduce their isolation,” Rebecca said.
“Officers carry their identification badge, or ‘Freddie’, throughout their entire career. When they retire they have nothing tangible to show they were on the force, and it can feel like a piece of them is missing,” she said.
“When mum told me about Denis, I knew we had to honour his service”.
Receiving a Facetime call from Rebecca and receiving the badge was a big surprise for Denis.
“I was surprised but feel very privileged to have been able to do such honourable work,” he said.