A POLICE volunteering scheme aimed at boosting confidence and morale among Scotland's young people is set to go nationwide after a number of successful pilots.
Police Scotland Youth Volunteer (PSYV) groups will expand to the force's full 14 territorial divisions over the coming months thanks to £97,000 of funding from the Scottish Government and Libor fines - money released to the police from fines levied on banks.
This means the current scheme involving 120 young people and 35 adult leaders will expand to create more than 1000 volunteering posts by December next year.
Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Mawson, who has led the PSYV project, said: "Young people from across those communities where we ran pilot groups have had a great year where they have learned many skills and enjoyed experiences which help instil values of citizenship and public service.
"The success of those groups means we are now in position to be able to introduce a further nine groups in other places so that every policing division in Scotland has a PSYV team.
"Those new groups will be in: Alloa, Paisley, Motherwell, Inverness, Livingston, Dumbarton, Dunfermline, Fraserburgh and Stranraer. And there are more groups in the pipeline destined for other communities.
"The principles of volunteering and engaging positively with young people in our communities are strongly-held by Police Scotland. As we move forward with recruiting for new volunteers, I believe this expansion is a further demonstration of the strength of connection between policing and local communities."
The programme, which is supported by Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland, saw its first 100 volunteers from groups in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow "pass out" at a recognition ceremony at Tulliallan a year ago.
Previous volunteers have helped out at events including the Commonwealth Games and Junior Ryder Cup, as well as supporting local policing events.
This year, the youngsters will complete stints at T in the Park, The Open, Wickerman Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Louise Macdonald OBE, Chief Executive of Young Scot, said: "Our partnership programme with Police Scotland for Youth Volunteers gives young people such amazing opportunities to get involved in their communities and be part of something inspiring.
"The pilot scheme was a fantastic success with young people telling us that being involved in the programme made them feel so much more confident in themselves and their ability to make a difference to topics like community safety and inter-generational relationships.
"We are hugely excited that the initiative will be rolled out across all 14 Police divisions in Scotland and look forward to seeing even more amazing young role models making a positive impact in local communities across the country."
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Mathieson added: "This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to become more involved in their local community and to learn about the essential work Police Scotland does on a day to day basis. This scheme could even discover the future of policing in Scotland by inspiring these volunteers to go on to become police officers themselves or lead the way in to other positive destinations volunteers may not have previously considered.
"The Scottish Government is proud to support this initiative and we look forward to seeing even more youth and adult volunteers on the streets of Scotland in the coming months."
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