Scottish Police Benevolent Fund build ‘HOUSE of PAIN!’

Fundraising
Jack in his ‘House of Pain’

Thanks to our subscribing members and gratefully received donations, we are delighted to announce that we were recently able to assist another member of the Police family who came to us for assistance.  

Jack, who is aged nine, is the son of a serving Police officer and suffers from Cerebral Palsy.  It’s fair to say, Jack has had a bit of a time of it, having been born prematurely and spent the first four months of his life in hospital.  Shortly after his discharge, the family then had to contend with Jack being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  Mainly affecting his lower limbs, his parents were informed by the medical team that they were looking at the real prospect of Jack being wheelchair bound for the rest of his life.   

Thankfully Jack’s parents decided they weren’t going to give up so easily and would do everything they could to afford him as much of a normal childhood possible and provide him the best opportunity to be as mobile and active as possible. So they embarked on an intensive programme over the next few years towards achieving this.

Jack gets regular input from the community physiotherapist and needs twice daily physio sessions from his mum and dad just to keep his lower limbs from getting stiff.   But this hard work has paid off with Jack now having enough strength to walk with the aid of splints and a walking frame and not being totally reliant on a wheelchair.

These daily sessions are essential to maintain his current condition, but also mean the family struggle with all the other normal things that a busy family would usually have to contend with.

To try and continue to improve Jack’s strength and mobility it was apparent that he needed somewhere to allow him to focus on his physio without simple distractions.  Getting Jack to a local gym to further strengthen his limbs was impracticable due to his age, nor would they be set up to deal with Jack’s specific needs and that’s where the SPBF stepped in!

Being made aware of the Fund’s willingness to assist in supporting its members within the Police family, Jack’s parents made an application to our charity and in just a few simple steps, we were able to inform the family that we would be delighted to provide them with financial support to make Jack’s life that little bit easier.

With our support, the family were quickly able to decide upon a suitable design that met their specific needs and appoint local contractors to construct Jack’s new Gym within the confines of the back garden of the family home.

The guys get to work
It’s taking shape
Where’s that paint brush?
Just a last few finishing touches

Now fully constructed and equipped with all the necessary pieces of equipment to assist Jack in continuing his physical development.  The ultimate aim and hope is for Jack to be able to walk completely unaided in the future.

Fully constructed and looking great!
All kitted out and ready to receive Jack
Jack puts in a shift in his new Gym

Jack knows this is no easy task and will require a lot of work and dedication on his part, but he is determined he will get there and so now tongue in cheek refers to his new Gym as his own personal ‘House of Pain!’

All systems are GO!

Jack’s parents have expressed their sincere gratitude to the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund and its members for all the support and assistance given.  It’s great to see Jack happy at work in his ‘House of Pain’ and we shall be watching with keen interest on his progress towards those big steps.

The SPBF previously produced a series of short videos spotlighting some of our work over the years. In them, officers and their families tell us their stories and what the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund has done for them. You can view these videos by clicking on our blog via the home page. If you know somebody who needs help then contact us.

It costs less than the price of a cup of coffee a month to become a member of the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund, giving you peace of mind that in times of need or hardship, we have your back even long after you retire. If you’d like to join the SPBF, make a donation or raise funds for us please get in touch.

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SPBF AGM 2019

Meetings

The Scottish Police Benevolent Fund is pleased to announce that the 2019 Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 19th August 2019 at the Scottish Police Treatment Centre, Castlebrae, Auchterarder, Perthshire, PH3 1AG. The meeting is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. All members are invited to attend.

Directions to the PTC can be viewed via the link below:

https://goo.gl/maps/eTVE4gjYFwmfTsEC9

SPBF receive generous donation from family of William Scott in his memory.

Fundraising

Mr Scott (or Billy or Scotty as he was known to friends and family), aged 90, tragically died after falling into water in the Leith area near Victoria Bridge in December 2018. 

Initially reported missing from his home in the Chesser area of the city, an extensive search by Police assisted by members of the public and other services resulted sadly in him being found in tragic circumstances with assistance of the Search Dogs.

Following the announcement the family publicly thanked all those who had supported them throughout the ordeal and made special mention of the help and kindness shown by Police when dealing with them.

As a result the family took a collection at the funeral of Mr Scott and it was their wish that this be donated to the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund to assist members of the Police family in time of need, in memory of their father/grandfather. 

The family were subsequently invited to Fettes Police Station to meet the Police dog and handler involved and given a guided tour of the Police Station as well as a spin in a Police car.  It was during this invitation that the family handed over the significant donation to a Trustee of the SPBF.

The SPBF would like to acknowledge and express our sincere thanks for the generous donation made by the family.  Rest assured that monies received will be put to a good cause in assisting those requiring assistance from the charity. The SPBF is extremely grateful to the family in making such a kind gesture to the Police family at a time of such sadness, and we hope that they can find some solace in the knowledge that the money they have donated in memory of their father and grandfather will make a difference to others.

Should you wish to make a donation in memory of a loved one, or just wish to make a donation, then please get in touch via our contacts page or click on the donate link at the top right of this page.

The picture above shows Mr Scott’s family during their visit to Fettes meeting with the search dog.

How we helped Eythan go for Gold!

Fundraising

We are delighted to announce that following assistance provided by the fund to another worthy cause and member of the Police family, we have enabled a budding sports star of the future to live his dream.

Eythan Galloway (13), son of serving Police Officer and dog handler Ryan, suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy but has never let that get in his way, taking part in sport and wishing to represent his own country. Eythan was already performing to a high standard in the new upcoming sport of Powerchair Football, but was restricted in progressing further, as the financial cost of obtaining the latest state of the art equipment to play at top level, was out of reach of the family.

Following a successful application to the SPBF, we were able to assist in securing the latest powered sports wheelchair from the USA and this has allowed Eythan to go from strength to strength and develop his natural talent for the sport further.

Eythan’s hard work and determination has ultimately paid off and we were delighted to hear that he was selected to try out for the National Squad in May last year. Eythan clearly impressed the coaches and went on to be selected to play for Scotland in the first ever Scottish Powerchair Football game which took place in Largs in December 2018. Not only that, but Eythan whilst earning his first cap for Scotland went on to score the first ever goal for Scotland that day!

Since then Eythan has gone from strength to strength, travelling to Leeds in February this year where once again he was selected to play in the Duncan Scales Memorial Cup where the team came a credible second in the tournament.

The family are immensely proud of their budding star and are currently waiting to hear if Eythan will be one of 6 Scottish players selected to travel to Belfast in May 2019 for the first International competition against Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland national squads. Good luck Eythan!

Eythan’s family have expressed their sincere thanks for the support the SPBF has given them over the years and surely we will see much more of him in a Scotland jersey as he hones those skills further. The SPBF will be watching with keen interest and wish Eythan and all the players of the Scottish Powerchair Football Team all the very best in their future endeavours and becoming a top class international team.

The SPBF previously produced a series of short videos spotlighting some of our work over the years. In them, officers and their families tell us their stories and what the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund has done for them. You can view these videos by clicking on our blog via the home page. If you know somebody who needs help then contact us.

It costs less than the price of a cup of coffee a month to become a member of the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund, giving you peace of mind that in times of need or hardship, we have your back even long after you retire. If you’d like to join the SPBF, make a donation or raise funds for us please get in touch.

How we helped Maisie (further)

Fundraising

Awhile back the SPBF released a series of short videos in which they explained how they had been able to assist various officers and their families in coping with challenging experiences and situations they were having to deal with. One such family was Alan and Claire Wilkie and their daughter Maisie. SPBF is very pleased to announce that recently we have been able to assist the family again in providing Maisie with a new specialist all terrain wheelchair as she had outgrown her old one. This highlights the importance SPBF places on supporting its members and their families throughout their journey. Members are not restricted to one application and every request for assistance will be looked at under its own merits.

We were delighted to received the following photograph showing Maisie enjoying her new wheelchair and getting out and about with all the family, including the family dog! We hope you enjoy your new chair Maisie and have lots of wonderful memories in it.

If you would like to view the video showing how the SPBF helped Maisie and her family previously, click here

The SPBF previously produced a series of short videos spotlighting some of our work. In them, officers and their families tell us their stories and what the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund has done for them. You can view these videos by clicking on our blog via the home page. If you know somebody who needs help then contact us.

If you’d like to join the SPBF, make a donation or raise funds for us please get in touch.

SPBF announce new Honorary President

Fundraising

The Scottish Police Benevolent Fund is pleased to announce that Chief Constable Iain Livingstone QPM, has accepted the boards invitation to become the Funds new Honorary President following his recent appointment as the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

Taking up the position as Honorary President from 1st October, CC Livingstone thanked the board for their invitation commenting ‘I value the assistance that the charity are able to provide to members during difficult times and undertake to continue to support you in this work.’

 

Members of the board would like to welcome CC Livingstone to the fund and we look forward to working closely with him in promoting the good work undertaken by the Fund in support of our members.

SPBF AGM 2018

Meetings

The Scottish Police Benevolent Fund Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 20th August 2018 at the Scottish Police Federation Livingstone Office, Unit 9, Houstoun Interchange Business Park, Livingston, EH54 5DW. All members are invited to attend.

 

Proposal to AGM to Change Constitution

Meetings

The Trustees of the charity are proposing the following change to the constitution.
It will be presented to the AGM of the Fund on 22nd August 2016 at Perth Police Station.

This resolution is being sought to change Section 67 of the Constitution of the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund.

Section 67 currently states

67. The charity trustees must elect (from among themselves) a chair, a treasurer and a secretary.

It is requested that this section now read:-

67. The charity trustees must elect (from among themselves) a chair and a secretary.
67.1 The charity trustees must identify a suitable person to undertake the role as Treasurer. This person may be from the Board of Trustees.

  • The role of the Treasurer requires some financial knowledge and training.
  • Furthermore section 67 restricts the charity to elect a treasurer from the board of trustees.
  • The charity business processes are established on the assumption that the Treasurer would be a Trustee.
  • The charity currently employs a member of staff to assist in the role of Treasurer.

This proposal should future proof the role of Treasurer within the SPBF. It may be the case that as the charity grows there may be a requirement to employ a Treasurer directly.

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