#GMPeople: meet the officer volunteering to transform children's lives

A firearms and public commander with a "passion" for fundraising for children's charities also volunteers some of her spare time to help transform the lives of vulnerable children through a UK charity.

Chief Inspector Natasha Evans joined as an officer in 2014 after volunteering as a Special Constable for the Special Constabulary for eight years beforehand.

The 36-year-old from Manchester decided to join the police and make a difference after officers helped her from a young age personally - and now volunteers for Barnardo's in her spare time by taking out a vulnerable teenager on a regular basis, whether that's bowling, crazy golf or for food.

When Natasha isn't commanding an incident involving firearms or taking charge as an incident in her role as a Force Critical Incident Manager - she's an independent visitor to a child in care, where she takes out a teenager who's currently in care by taking her on days out and being someone independent to her life for her to speak to.

She said: "I'm really passionate about kids' charities and I've always done charity work so I decided to volunteer for Barnardo's and started 18 months ago.

"The girl I take out is in the care system and I take her out every few weeks to do different fun activities.

"The volunteering role I do means I'm an independent visitor to a child in care and allows vulnerable youngsters to have someone outside of the 'system' to speak to."

She added: "The volunteering role really makes you appreciate life because you see the world from a different view.

"The saying goes - to change civilisation, you can only do it one person at a time. When I first met her, she was completely silent but now she's really chatty and wants to go to university and be a teacher."

"I'm a huge people person and love to help people and help them get to where they want to go. I try and do this through volunteering, and also hopefully helping officers in the force”

Anyone interested in volunteering like Natasha can visit www.barnados.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/children.