ScotCPS have been providing personal safety courses throughout the U.K. since 1997 – stretching as far north as the Shetland Islands and as far south as London.
We have an array of instructors (male and female) to suit your needs, all of whom work for the charity on a volunteer basis.
We also pride ourselves in having instructors who represent the people we train – some have mobility problems, some are hearing impaired, some from ethnic minority backgrounds, etc.
Whilst our instructors provide training on what can be quite serious subject matter, we always try to keep our courses light-hearted as we want all of our course attendees to have an enjoyable and informative learning experience.
Alan has been teaching personal safety and self-defence since 1997.
He takes his “Keeping it Real” training style from the unarmed combat training
he received both in the military and in the Close Protection (bodyguard) industry.
Alan is passionate about the right of everyone in society to be able to enjoy the path their life has taken without the fear or threat of violence blighting their existence.
He is a qualified instructor with ‘The National Federation for Personal Safety’ and a Master Instructor trainer with ‘The Self Defence Federation UK’ and ‘All Styles Martial Arts’. He has trained in various martial arts including Karate, Judo, Western Boxing and competed in Muay Thai in Thailand.
Alan is also a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Combat Ju-Jitsu and qualified as a Level 3 Instructor in Commando Krav Maga in Israel.
Additionally, Alan holds various Teacher / Trainer qualifications including a Professional Trainer Certificate, SCQF Level 7 (formerly A1 Assessor Award), Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) Level 3, First Aid Trainer Assessor, Personal Safety Trainer Assessor and Delivering Conflict Management Trainer Level 3 – all of which help him devise and develop training plans for the various courses which the charity provides.
As well as all of this, Alan uses his Diploma In Counselling & Psychotherapy to help survivors cope with their situations and his Certificate in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for holistic healing.
He was awarded with a “Lifetime Achiever Award” at the Inclusive Companies Awards 2018 in Manchester. The award was in recognition of a life spent championing inclusion, equality and diversity – and for his work in developing Personal Safety courses specifically for female survivors of violence, the blind / visually impaired, LGBTI, BME and people with dwarfism.
Alan was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 2020 under the category of “Devotee” for a lifetime devoted to helping people through his martial arts skills and in 2021 he was honoured with a British Citizen Award for his ‘Services to Education‘ for devising and producing our charity’s empowering Personal Safety courses.
In 2022, Alan was awarded the Queen’s Platinum Champion Award for his ‘Services to the Community‘ and in 2023 was honoured with an MBE in King Charles III’s first New Year’s Honours List for his ‘Services to Vulnerable People‘.
Also in 2023, Alan received a “Palladium Award” for his “Outstanding contribution to his community” from The Ayrshire Community Trust’s Volunteer Recognition Awards.
He was also presented with the ‘Inspiration of the Year‘ award at the Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2024 and the ‘Champion Mentor‘ award at the North Ayrshire Champions Awards 2026.
Despite ongoing mobility and dexterity issues, Alan continues to teach on courses and new Instructors whilst running our Barony St. John Centre.
David began training in martial arts in 1986. In 1991, he became the Scottish Junior Kickboxing Champion
before diversifying into other forms of combat training including Aikido, Karate, Western Boxing,
Tae Kwon-Do and Spirit Combat.
In 1997, David qualified as a Personal Safety instructor with ‘The National Federation of Personal Safety’, working alongside officers from London’s Metropolitan Police with his brother, Alan Bell, teaching “Bash and Dash” methods and techniques to the public and various organisations such as ‘Women’s Aid’.
In 1998, David qualified as a Close Protection Officer (bodyguard) and also began working in the security industry as a door steward, progressing to Head Steward for a number of night clubs and public houses in and around the Glasgow area. Gaining invaluable experience of ‘real’ fights and ‘real’ confrontations, taught David a lot about the way people react in ‘fight-mode’ and also how an individual’s own body reacts in these situations.
Combining systems and methods from martial arts with his personal safety techniques and door steward experiences, David brings them all into the forefront of his self defence training.
John joined our Instructor Team in February 2017 and has been actively involved in the provision of various courses as well as our weekly Krav Maga classes for Women & Under 16's at our Barony St John Centre.
John joined the Police service in 1990. Latterly, he was involved in training both locally and at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan.
He also spent two years at the Scottish Police College overseeing probationer training and the National Officer Safety Training Program in preparation for the amalgamation of Police Scotland.
John qualified as a Diversity Trainer in 2007 and has delivered several Diversity courses to Police Officers and staff over the years.
John retired from Police Scotland in 2020 at the rank of Inspector within the Criminal Justice Service Division with responsibility for all Custody matters for Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, West Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and Argyle & Bute.
Originally from Poland, Barbara passed her Level 2 Instructor course in December 2019.
She has been a volunteer with North Ayrshire Women's Aid and is currently studying for her Diploma in Counselling.
Barbara helps with our individual training and counselling of female survivors of violence as well as all of our other courses.
In 2021, Barbara won our “Volunteer of the Year” award.
In 2023, she received a “Palladium Award” for her “Outstanding contribution to her community” from The Ayrshire Community Trust’s Volunteer Recognition Awards.
Since 2025, Barbara has been the lead instructor of our hugely successful therapeutic art classes which run in our Barony St John Centre.
In 2026, Barbara once again won our “Volunteer of the Year” award – one of the few individuals to have won this award twice.
Craig passed his Level 2 Instructor course in June 2019.
As well as a course instructor, Craig also helps run our weekly Krav Maga self defence class for Women & Under 16's.
In 2023, Craig won our “Volunteer of the Year” award for his consistent high standards of training and commitment.
In 2025, Craig received a “Palladium Award” for his “Outstanding contribution to his community” from The Ayrshire Community Trust’s Volunteer Recognition Awards.
Kim passed her Level 1 Instructor course in July 2025. During her teenage years, she trained in Tae Kwon-Do and despite being registered sight impaired, within the junior divisions, she competed at Scottish, British and World championship levels in both sparring and forms.
Aside from this, Kim competed in swimming at Scottish and British levels and, as part of Scottish Disability Sports, was on the Scottish team.
Kim has always enjoyed volunteering, and in 2014 she began volunteering with Glasgow Disability Alliance, and undertook workshops around disability and human rights with young people.
In 2022, Kim began volunteering with Visibility Scotland, and in partnership with Deafblind Scotland, she travelled to different locations around Scotland, giving presentations on the Human Rights Act (1998) and the Equality Act (2010). By incorporating her personal experience, she was able to help adults with single and dual sensory loss better understand their rights, and have them upheld.
In 2023, Kim became a Trustee for Visibility Scotland which, so far, has been an interesting and enriching experience for her.
After suddenly losing her sight in 2007, Debbi has been helping and teaching people who are blind
or visually impaired. She currently promotes the charity's sensory impairment classes, workshops and courses.
Debbie lost her sight suddenly in 2007 while driving her car. She had a virus called CMV Retinitis which detached both her retinas.
Her brother bought Debbie a laptop and she started to use the speech program learn how to use it. Soon, she was teaching people, on a voluntary basis, how to use a computer and technology seemed to be second nature to her.
After a time, Debbie became employed and then self-employed teaching other visually impaired people how to use technology.
Through this position, Debbie was able to introduce people to the weekly Personal Safety classes for people who are blind or visually impaired at our charity’s Barony St John Centre.
Realising that many people with sight loss enjoyed these Personal Safety and self defence sessions, and that they helped build self-confidence, made participants more outgoing and helped them to move on in life, Debbie agreed to continue to promote these classes, workshops and courses as the charity’s Vision Impairment Coordinator.
Anna came to the UK from Poland in 2004. She joined us as a volunteer in 2018 before becoming
our Compliance Officer in 2019.
Anna helps ensure that our charity continues to be up-to-date and compliant with various legislations including Covid-19 protocols, Risk Assessments and GDPR.
Since 2006, Anna has been working full time for RNIB (Royal National Institute for Blind people) in various roles, the last two being Finance Manager and since 2019 as their Risk & Compliance Manager for ECSS (Eye Clinic Support Services) covering the whole of the UK.
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