Banff & District Community Safety Group

Office-bearers:	Chair	Mark Findlater
	Vice-Chair	Sandy Chalmers
	Secretary/Treasurer	Brenda Chalmers

The Banff and District Community Safety Group has more than 15 active members supporting projects which enhance the social responsibility of young people, such as constructive after school activities to discourage anti social behaviour, alcohol and substance misuse, safe driving schemes, such as Driving Ambition, and crime prevention, such as Pubwatch and Shopwatch. The Group also provides advice and training in safety issues and offers a range of safety and anti-crime products.

Tackling the Night Terrors

The Banff and District Community Safety Group is helping to tackle the Night Terrors in Banff. Nick Dolphin, Group Chairman, said:

"Community safety is not just a matter for the Police and involves a community effort if it is to be truly effective in the long term."

Read the article "Tackling the Night Terrors" that appeared in the Banffshire Journal. PDF file

Community Safety Awards

The Banff and District Community Safety Group scooped three awards at the 2009 Community Safety Annual Seminar on the 28th March:

Marion Philip and the Brighter Horizons youth charity won a Runner Up Award for their work with young people.
Brenda Chalmers won a Merit Award for her sustained support to the Banff skate park over the past seven years. Board-2-Extremes
The Banff & District Community Safety Group itself won a Merit Award for its High Visibility Vests project.

CSG Supports Primary Schools.

The Banff and District Community Safety Group is providing high visibility vests to Primary Schools and Pre-School Groups.

CSG Supports Pass Plus.

The Banff and District Community Safety Group funds extra driving instruction for new drivers.

CSG Supports Swimming Lessons.

The Banff and District Community Safety Group is supporting swimming lessons for 10 to 12 year olds.

Information on current initiatives (since March 2008) and a selection of previous projects can be found further down this page.

Dates of future meetings:

2013

19th February 2013 at Macduff Arts Centre at 7pm
9th April 2013 at Banff Community Centre at 7pm
21st May 2013 at Macduff Arts Centre at 7pm
2nd July 2013 at Banff Community Centre at 7pm

Anyone with an interest in community safety in Banff and District is very welcome to attend meetings and to raise their safety concerns.

The 2010 Banff & District CSG Annual General Meeting was held at the Arts Centre, Duff Street, Macduff.
Click here to read the 2010 AGM minutes.

Minutes of previous meetings are available online as PDF files:

You will need the free Acrobat Reader to access PDF files, click on the logo to download a copy.

Banff & District CSG Current Projects (from March 2008): Top of page

	Schools Bus Safety Poster Competition - The Chairman of the Banff & District Community Safety Group has praised pupils for taking part in a project to highlight school bus safety. Click on the logo to get more information on Pass Plus support.
	Global Rock Challenge - The Banff and District CSG supported students from the Banff Academy to enter the Be Your Best Foundation's Global Rock Challenge 2010. Click on the logo for more information.
	Road Safety - As part of a Shire-wide initiative and in collaboration with Aberdeenshire Council the Banff and District CSG is providing up to £100 for young drivers (17 to 25 years old) to take six hours driving experience with a PASS PLUS qualified instructor within one year of passing their driving test. An application form for Pass Plus funding from the Banff & District Community Safety Group is available: Pass Plus Funding Application Form MS Word Pass Plus Funding Application Form PDF file Click on the logo to get more information on Pass Plus support.
	High Visibility Vests - The Banff and District CSG is offering the Primary Schools , pre-School Playgroups and Newsagents in our area high visibility vests to improve the security of children amd young people in their care or employ. Click on the logo to get more information about high visibility vests.
	Swimming Lessons - The Banff and District CSG is funding the Active Schools Non- and Weak Swimmer Learn To Swim Programme. Click on the logo to get more information about the Learn to Swim programme.
	Youth Activities - The Banff and District CSG is continuing to support: Brighter Horizons providing constructive and entertaining activities for teenagers. Board-2-Extremes providing the skateboard park in Banff run by youngsters.
	Promotion in the Community - The Banff and District CSG regularly undertakespromotional activities, such as stalls at local events, leafleting and press coverage. 2008 activities include: Stalls at the Portsoy Boat festival and Banffshire Show. Attendance at parents days at Banff Academy. House-tohouse leaflet drop in towns and villages in conjunction with the Police to promote the Pass Plus driving course.

Safety Equipment - The Banff and District CSG continues to promote and provide a variety of safety products including:

Personal alarms
UV security pens
Light timers
Door chimes
Safe cans

UV pens for marking household equipment, bikes, etc are free and all other items cost £2 but are free to those who cannot afford them. More than a hundred products were either sold or donated during the year.

These products can be obtained from the Banff Police Station or the office of the Banffshire Journal in Bridge Street, Banff.

Smart Mousemats - the Banff & District CSG has funded its own smart mousemats with contact details of the local emergency services. Police, Crimestoppers, Fire & Rescue service and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency have all supplied their details. The mousemats also include the Community Safety Logo and web site details and features an image of Banff Bridge.

Four hundred mousemats have been distributed to local businesses, Banff Academy and Primary schools.

Click on the logo to see a large version in a new window.

Banff & District selection of Past Projects: Top of page

	The Friday Night Team - The Banff and District CSG continued to support the Friday Night Team providing constructive and entertaining activities for teenagers on Friday nights. Click on the logo for more information.
	The Leys Drop-in - The Banff and District CSG supported activities for young people on Thursday evenings in Macduff. Click on the logo for more information.
	Board 2 Extremes - The Banff and District CSG continued to support the local skate board park run by youngsters. Click on the logo for more information.
	The Banff & District CSG has supported an event to aid personal development which involved educating younger children about misuse of alcohol and drugs. Click on the logo for more information.
	The Banff & District CSG has supported a scheme to teach cycle safety and security for schoolchildren in the area. Click on the logo for more information.
	The Banff & District CSG has continued to support water safety training for schoolchildren in the area in collaboration with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Aberdeenshire Council. Click on the logo for more information.
	The Message-in-a-bottle scheme is run by local Rotary Clubs, including Banff. The innovative scheme uses a plastic container kept in your fridge and which holds medical details for the emergency services. Click on the logo for more information.
	The The Banff and District CSG ran a successful autumn Lights for Bikes campaign, giving youngsters the chance to buy discounted light sets from two local cycle shops. They now plan to encourage youngsters to security mark their bikes in a new campaign. They are also looking at the idea of issuing high-visibility arm bands for young cyclists.