FROM serving the public to serving God, PC Chris Yates is taking a leap of faith that will send him thousands of miles from home.
After three years as a faith liaison officer for Hillingdon Police, he has just been ordained as a Church of England deacon by the Diocese of Oxford.
He will be heading to Australia in September with his wife and two children, and - subject to his work permit being approved - take up a post as chaplain with the New South Wales Police.
The Reverend Yates, 29, said: "I have spent 10 years on the force, working in Thames Valley previously, working with response teams and really involved with the messy side of the job.
"In Australia, I will be burying people, marrying and baptising, so it is a far cry from how I began my career."
During his time with the police, Mr Yates received two commendations for bravery, both related to saving lives.
On one occasion he pulled a woman from the edge of a multi-storey car park in Oxfordshire after she threat
ened to jump, and two years ago, with colleagues, he rescued a woman from a blazing house in Uxbridge.
It was shortly after joining Hillingdon Police three years ago that Mr Yates made the decision to take a vocational course with the Church of England.
It involved working one evening a week and six weekends a year, organ-ising shifts to fit in around it.
Then after being ordained, he was offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take up the post in Williamtown, a small coastal community near the city of Newcastle.
He said: "I find it fascinating that in Australia they are looking to recruit people like me.
"But at the same time I have been living in reality and have life experience, and seen first-hand bad things happening to good people, so I can empathise with people."
He will also be working closely with the Royal Australian Air Force - the town has an RAAF airbase - andn has been reading up on Australian law and the culture. In the UK, he was instrumental in forming projects such as Hillingdon Street Angels and the Hillingdon Week of Peace.
