NORTH Ayrshire’s police presence is bolstered by Special Police Constables who are volunteers and give up their free time to help others in need.

Chris McCulloch is one of the Special Constables who was out in Saltcoats this weekend and has been working as a volunteer for almost a decade. He explained that there isn’t much difference between Special PCs and those who work full-time and that it can be a really rewarding use of free time. Chris said: “A special constable is a volunteer role, we have exactly the same powers, take the same calls and deal with the same incidents as full-time officers.” While not working for Police Scotland, Chris runs an accountancy service but still manages to give up to 10 hours a week with the police. He added: “You live in the community and you realise that policing numbers are getting low. You can either sit and complain about it or you can do something about it and I decided I would join as a special to volunteer the time I had. “There’s about three of us that have got the same sort of service of almost 10 years. “I enjoy what I do as a day job and I don’t think I’d want to give either of them up, it’s quite a nice mix being able to do both.” Special PC McCulloch explained a bit more about the shift work and what they get up to when volunteering. He said: “The one thing that always sticks out for me was on my very first call was a complaint in regards to the theft of garden gnomes and while it might seem quite amusing, it was the most serious thing that woman had experienced. “The victim was an elderly woman and she was frightened to be in her home. “While you could laugh about it not being quite serious, it was probably her first interaction with the police and you realise how you deal with something, even something which is simple to you, can impact so heavily on someones life.” Chris would heartily recommend anyone who would be interested in joining up as a volunteer and added: “It’s a really rewarding role and there is no minimum commitment and you get pretty much the same training. “I have increased confidence and before I joined I couldn’t have imagined doing something like this but when you arrive at an incident in uniform nobody knows whether you’re a special or not. “You’re expected to deal with an incident and that confidence you can take into your full-time job and the rest of your life.”