Caithness voluntary groups given access to free training for licensed events
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Caithness community organisations are now able to access training for volunteers to gain the formal licensed events qualification, thanks to a Police Scotland funding initiative.
The recent Your Police, You Decide initiative allowed 11 delegates from county groups to successfully attain the SQA personal licence holder qualification.
The certificated one-day course is a prerequisite for anyone applying for a personal licence to run events where alcohol is served in the Highlands.
Bryan Dods, project officer with Caithness Voluntary Group, said: “We’re working with the local licensing board to make sure our organisations are compliant where their events feature alcohol. The one-day course is mandatory before an individual can apply for their licence. If we want lots of quality 'do’s' taking place, we need plenty of quality people with the formal qualifications to run them.
“The Your Police, You Decide funding has been crucial in making this possible. As the police have an interest in making sure alcohol-related activity is carried out on a safe, secure and well-planned basis, we were sure this was an ideal use for it.
"Our next steps for this project will be expanding the programme to include event stewards and security staff, and the formal training required for those working on bars at events.
"Everyone who offers their services for a community event needs to be confident they’re doing the right things.”
Colin Munro, of Castletown Football Club, who attended the course, said: “We run licensed events to keep our sporting activities going and bring the community together. Having volunteers with their personal licence makes us confident that our events comply with the rules and regulations on alcohol service, so that everyone can enjoy themselves safely.”
PC Matthew Thain, from Police Scotland’s partnerships, prevention and community wellbeing division, said: “It’s great to see projects such as this benefit from the funding provided through Your Police, You Decide. This participatory budgeting fund was created as a pilot to understand how Police Scotland could work together with local communities to improve safety and wellbeing.
"It meant that the community itself were empowered to make the decision in how money was spent and which projects were awarded funds.
"Costs will often be a barrier for community groups when running events and hopefully the funding has helped with this. I look forward to hearing more about Caithness Voluntary Group's plans to expand training opportunities in the future.”
The training was set up under Caithness Voluntary Group’s community training programme, which uses funds from a number of sources to provide voluntary and charitable groups with supported training to help deliver their services. Courses for first aid, food safety and portable appliance testing have already been run, with more planned in the future.
Anybody interested in the courses can contact Bryan on bryan@cvg.org.uk
