Town’s volunteers are top of the cops

Buddies win top accolade at police awards

Paisley’s young cop volunteers are the best in the country – and that’s official.

The dedicated youngsters scooped the Group of the Year award at this year’s Police Scotland’s Youth Volunteers Annual Awards, beating teams from as far away as Shetland and Stranraer.

They were nominated for the prize after coming through their regional final, and bested 21 other volunteer teams.

More than 200 Police Scotland Youth and Adult Volunteers gathered at the Police Scotland College in Tulliallan at the weekend to recognise the skills and learning gained throughout the year.

Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins, who has responsibility for the programme, said: “The PSYV offers a fantastic opportunity for young people to become actively involved in volunteering opportunities in their communities.

“Programmes such as this clearly demonstrate the fantastic contribution that Scotland’s young people are making to society today.

“Our youth volunteers are giving something back, and this awards ceremony recognises the tremendous dedication and positive outcomes that these young people deliver in their local communities.”

The police volunteer scheme is supported by Scottish Government, Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland and is represented in all but two local authorities in the country, with both Falkirk and Stirling to begin later this year.

All volunteers participate in a range of activities aimed at instilling values of citizenship and public service.

They also gain a practical insight and understanding of Police Scotland and its values and priorities. The training includes working with police officers to learn about the rank and structure of the police, as well as a range of specialist functions.

Youth volunteers also become involved in working with a range of partners to support initiatives and projects in their local community.

The awards were a culmination of 22 local awards ceremonies held by individual groups across Scotland, each of which presented individual awards for Police Knowledge, Commitment, Leadership, Adult Volunteer of the Year and Youth Volunteer of the Year.

Each local winner was given the opportunity to be nominated for three regional awards representing Police Scotland’s North, East and West territorial command areas.

These three winners then represented their region as nominees for the prestigious national awards.

In addition, 56 youth and adult volunteers received long service awards for three years’ service to volunteering with the PSYV in their communities.

The event ended with the presentation of the PSYV Group of the year award which this year went to PSYV Paisley, which is organised by PC Audrey Paul. She said: “All 24 youth volunteers have worked hard to achieve such an accolade and we will continue to do what we do best …. volunteering.”

Annabelle Ewing, minster for Community Safety and Legal Affairs,added: “It was fantastic to attend the awards.

“This year we have dedicated a whole year to celebrating young people. We want our young people to have a greater say in decisions that affect their lives at a national and a local level that will create a lasting legacy into the future, and these awards recognise the dedication of the young people that have taken part.

“I congratulate you all for your hard work and dedication and a particular congratulations to the nominees and award winners.”