Ten officers from the Ballyarnett Neighbourhood Policing Team completed a 30km charity walk along Northern Ireland’s North Coast on May 3, raising £1,072 for local addiction recovery nonprofit ARC Fitness. The donation brings the team’s total fundraising for the Derry organization to nearly £4,000 over several years of sustained support.
A charity walk rooted in frontline experience
Ballyarnett NPT Sergeant Pete Johnston said the team’s decision to fundraise for ARC Fitness was driven directly by what officers witness on the job. The police unit has made referrals to ARC Fitness for years and considers the partnership a practical extension of its community work.
“As police officers, we see all too often the harm caused from the sale, supply and use of illicit drugs, the harm on the person themselves and also on their family and community,” Johnston said.
The Ballyarnett team previously completed the Belfast Marathon and other coastal charity walks in support of ARC Fitness. In 2022, officers secured match funding alongside the Derry and Strabane Policing and Community Safety Partnership to launch a pilot program enabling formal police referrals to the nonprofit. That kind of community-based approach mirrors the model championed by charities supporting mental health and recovery initiatives across the UK and beyond.
ARC founder says donation supports people from crisis to hope
Gary Rutherford, who founded ARC Fitness on the belief that recovery is strengthened through connection and community, said the funds would go directly into frontline services. The organization uses physical activity, professional support, education and community reconnection to help people enter and sustain recovery.
“It will go towards the cost of putting someone through an addiction recovery programme, or specific one-to-one addiction recovery work and family support work, so it will directly support an individual from crisis right through to hope,” Rutherford said.
Johnston added that the team hoped the funds raised would make a real and lasting difference. The ongoing partnership between Ballyarnett NPT and ARC Fitness reflects a growing recognition that sustainable recovery work depends on the kind of community trust that strong nonprofits build over time.