Police Scotland youth volunteers gift bench to Balloch hospice

Dedicated Police Scotland volunteers have donated a bench to a Balloch hospice to thank staff for their efforts during the pandemic.

Dumbarton and Clydebank’s Police Scotland Youth Volunteers commemorated the pandemic by making the donation to Balloch Robin House, which is run by Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS).

Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) allows those between the ages of 13 and 17 to learn more about the police and how they serve their communities, whilst recognising that young people are capable of so much more than they get credit for.

Other benches will be donated to local health centres and hospitals over the coming months, however Robin House will be the first recipient of the bench program.

Dale Logsdon, Argyll and West Dunbartonshire coordinator for the PSYV, said: “We provide guidance, skills and opportunities for our young volunteers in order to learn and build their skillsets for the future.

“This is mainly done by providing educational opportunities whilst volunteering for various events in their local community.

“Like everything else, PSYV Clydebank and Dumbarton was placed in lockdown in 2020 due to the pandemic, which restricted their opportunities to provide a positive contribution.

“As a result, I arranged to meet our volunteers via online sessions where we continued with our good work.

“During 2020 we had just finished a project where we were promoting positive mental health and guidance within secondary schools where the young people wanted to acknowledge the contributions made by care
staff.

“Therefore, we designed a banner with simple messages of thanks, which were printed and fixed to a garden bench.

“All materials for this product came from local funds and had been assisted by the Year of the Young People Legacy Fund.”

All members within a local PSYV team are voluntary with the exception of Dale, who is a serving police officer.

And Nicky Bridges, associate director of outreach services at CHAS, paid tribute to the group for their support.

She added: “We are delighted with this lovely gift from the youth volunteers and applaud the initiative.

“Robin House is assisted in no small part by volunteers so we can fully appreciate the importance of people power.”