Trustees, staff and members of the SPBF would like to say a BIG Thank You, to all who have supported and donated to the charity this last year. Whilst we are conscious many choose to remain anonymous when donating, all at the charity just wish you to know that we greatly appreciate the support you give us, large or small and rest assured your funds deposited are going to a great cause in supporting officers, support staff and their families during difficult times as well as supporting many other great causes.
A fantastic £3,913.21 was raised in the last 12 months alone via the Just Giving Page. This does not include monies kindly donated via our collection boxes in most major Police Stations across Scotland and those who have kindly donated directly to the charity by other means, for which again we are so thankful for. Please know we value all your efforts and thank you for your kindness.
If you are intending on raising monies for the SPBF by undertaking a charity collection or event such as a fun run or even something daft like sitting in a bath of beans, then please let us know as we would be happy to work with you in achieving your goal.
If you wish to give a donation via our Just Giving Page, then please just click the link above which will take you directly to our page and will only take you seconds to complete.
So once again, just a BIG THANK YOU and a Happy New Year to everyone from the SPBF, we are truly humbled by your kindness x
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The SPBF is delighted to support the Police Treatment Centres‘ £2.5 million redevelopment of Castlebrae. Trustees agreed to donate £32,000 to equip the facilities with 13 new state of the art cardio vascular exercise machines. Watch the video below for a tour of the facilities.
Dunfermline based running club, Carnegie Harriers were delighted to make a donation of £820 recently to the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund. This donation was raised from part of the entry fees for the Carnegie Harriers Devilla Forest Trail races held in February. These races start and finish within the grounds of the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan and provide an excellent base for race registration, changing and car parking. Race Director Allan Macaulay (right) and club Treasurer John Fulham (left) presented this cheque to Scottish Police Benevolent Fund’s Martin Bertram (centre) recently at Tulliallan Castle. The Charity is the official charity of the Police Service of Scotland and aims to deliver high quality Benevolent & Welfare services to improve the quality of life of its membership who are in conditions of need.
Fundraiser for Police Benevolent Fund being held at Braehead Arena on Saturday 29 November where the Police Scotland and the UK Firefighter’s Ice Hockey Teams will Face Off at 4pm. Please try to support this event which is being held as part of the Clutha Memorial Evening.
