More than 60 people attended the 10th Annual Community Safety Seminar held by Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership in Kemnay on Saturday, 20 March, 2010.

The seminar, at Kemnay Church Centre, included workshops on domestic abuse liaison and outreach work; school bus safety and a session led by "Living Streets, Scotland".

Several partner agencies were represented at the event including Aberdeenshire Council, Grampian Police and Grampian Fire & Rescue Service.

William Munro, Kincardine and Mearns Area Manager with Aberdeenshire Council, chaired the event. Mr Munro is also Chair of the Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership.

The keynote address was delivered by Albert Donald, Assistant Chief Constable for Grampian Police, who spoke of how working with the community was important to his organisation, as was working in partnership, sharing resources and making a difference in communities.

He also reported on successes within the Aberdeenshire division with regard to a fall in vandalism and a rise in detection rates.

One runner up prize of £100 and a certificate was awarded to "Pandemonium", a reaching out project in Peterhead which was successful in attracting 500 young people to work on the project. The prize was accepted by Stephanie Forbes and Gregg Anderson.

The second runner up prize of £100 and a certificate was awarded to to Kemnay Youth Café Holiday Forum which saw young people actively providing activities in Kemnay for themselves and their peers. The prize was accepted by Jamie Anderson.

Presentation of the Commendation Certificate to the "Audacious Disco" project in Fraserburgh. The award was accepted by Liz Scott.

Presentation of the Commendation Certificate to the "Nonny Moose" anti-vandalism project for schools. The award was accepted by Cadet Natasha Watt and PC Malcolm Grant.

Domestic Abuse Liaison and Outreach

Brian is based within the Aberdeenshire Public Protection Unit based at Inverurie Police Office. His portfolio within the Public Protection Unit include Domestic Abuse and Offender Management within Aberdeenshire. He has 21 years Police service which has involved 11 years in uniform operational roles within Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, 9 years within CID/Proactive Units as a Constable and Sergeant and for the past year has fulfilled his current role.

In his current role, Brian has supervision responsibilities for two Domestic Abuse Liaison Officers based at Fraserburgh and Ellon and four Detective officer and two police staff based at Peterhead and Inverurie for the monitoring of registered Sex Offenders within the community.

School Transport Safety

Ewan has been in his post of Head of Transportation since March, 2007. He has worked with Aberdeenshire Council since 1996 on Civil Engineering, Transportation and Road Safety schemes, ranging from the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route to, more recently, school bus signs.

As Head of the Transportation Service, Ewan oversees Fleet, Policy and Asset Management, Roads Development, Strategy, Transportation and public Transport, with a budget in the order of £25 million per year and has just under 180 members of staff.

Ewan is a Chartered Civil Engineer with an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering, is married with two daughters (one born only last December).

Living Streets

Keith Irving, MA, MSc leads the Living Streets team in Scotland and their work on community engagement, creating healthy environments and campaigning for safe, attractive, enjoyable streets, where people want to walk. The current priorities of Living Streets Scotland range from working with local authorities to create walkable environments to promoting slower traffic speed in built-up areas.

Prior to joining Living Streets, Keith worked as a senior researcher in the Scottish Parliament, focusing on transport, environment and health issues, as a travel plan officer for the South East Scotland region and as an English teacher in Japan.

Read more about Living Streets Scotland.