23 May 2013 Chief Superintendent Davie Flynn - Policing in Central Scotland and Tony Ford PHF Award.

Before last Thursday's meeting heard from the guest speaker, President Iain Smith announced he was awarding a Paul Harris Fellowship to one of the Club's most deserving members.

Past President Tony Ford had joined the club in 2003 and quickly established himself as one of the most active members who could be relied on to volunteer for just about anything. He took part in all the club's active events such as the Sightsavers 3 Peaks Challenge in 2006, the Munro Challenge in 2009 and was also one of the founders of the Dunblane First Responders. Despite being diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2011, Tony continues to lead a very active life and is not only chair of East Stirling Football Club but is heavily involved in fundraising with Forth Valley Young Parkinson's Group. On his birthday on 14 July he, along with others, is embarking on a sponsored climb of Ben Nevis to raise funds for Parkinson's. Tony was congratulated on his honour by all members present.

President Iain then introduced guest speaker, Chief Superintendent Davie Flynn, who was appointed to the post of Local Police Commander, Forth Valley Division on 1 April 2013 having previously been Chief Superintendent with responsibility for Communities Policing across Forth Valley since July 2010.

He has had over 25 year's service in central Scotland and had even had to travel to Hawaii to give evidence in the US Supreme Court, a task he did not find too difficult.

He talked about the new arrangements for policing which took effect on 1 April this year with the formation of Police Service of Scotland, which is the second largest force in the UK after the Metropolitan Police, with almost 17,500 police officers, over 6,000 police staff and around 1,400 Special Constables.

The purpose and focus of the police remains to keep people safe and Davie was at pains to point out that the changes will result in a more remote service but that the intention is to work closely with communities to identify and address emerging local issues. He outlined some of the new arrangements for crime investigation and public protection including specialist units based around the Forth Valley area, supported by national Operational Support Units. After fielding several questions from members, Davie was thanked for his talk by George Morrison.

In other news, Peter and Paddy Holmes announced that this year's Beat Beethoven Challenge would be launched on Saturday 15 June at Phoenix Honda at Springkerse where not only the maestro himself will be appearing, but there will be guests from Waitrose and Phoenix Honda who are sponsoring the event. The Birkin family are coming in fancy dress, footballers from East Stirling Football Club , members of Forth Valley Young Parkinson's and pupils from Queen Victoria School will also be there.