Top tips for driving safely on rural roads

Guest blog by Leo Clarke, Consultant & Researcher With less traffic to contend with, rural roads may seem like easy places to drive, but there are actually a lot of hidden dangers and things that you need to be aware of. To make sure that you are keeping yourself and your loved ones safe, read...

Chief Officer’s Monthly Reflections: April 2023

by Lorraine Gillies, SCSN Chief Officer I love April, it’s the start of so much – spring, lighter evenings and mornings, new financial year, new plans.. This April though our plans have been slightly delayed.  The introduction of new a core grant funding process by the Scottish Government has taken it’s  a toll on us...

Home Safety Scotland Quarterly Update

by Kevin Chase, National Development Officer The last quarter has been an interesting one reaching out to groups and organisations who are providing some fantastic work within their respective communities.  These organisations vary from third sector, Local Authority and national organisations.  At the end of February I met with Roar For Life in Renfrewshire.  A...

Plumbers & Joiners: Police, Mental Health & Vulnerability

by Kevin Chase, National Development Officer On Friday 9th December, I attended the Police Mental Health and Vulnerability conference in Edinburgh, hosted by Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.  Why?  Having recently retired from the police, from my own experience it is one of the biggest challenges facing policing in Scotland today.  I will...

How do you plan your plan?

Lorraine Gillies, SCSN Chief Officer I always think of January as a planning month. It’s when the Scottish Community Safety Network staff team and board sit down together and plan our activity for the year. The events we will deliver, the meetings we will facilitate, the briefing papers we intend to produce, the dates for...

Beyond Borders: All Island Community Safety Conference

by Dave Shea, Senior National Development Officer One of SCSN’s long-term development goals is to become a centre for excellence, domestically and internationally, for community safety; to share what we know, and learn from others. We’ve already made good links with counterparts in England, Wales and Norway, and made representations at a European conference earlier...

Monthly Reflections: SCSN Chief Officer

November 2022 I’m always impressed by Corporate Rebels. Their most recent piece gives an inspiring account of what’s possible, with great examples of how some employers are responding to rising inflation. In it, it talks about putting people first – we get that at SCSN, as we’ve written about before. Everyone now knows about our...

A new role, a new chapter

by Kevin Chase, SCSN’s new National Development Officer A new role a new chapter.  A fresh start. After a career in policing, why have I taken on a fantastic opportunity with the Scottish Community Safety Network especially the Home Safety Scotland portfolio?  I could list several reasons however I will focus on four.  Firstly, it...