The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety

03/11/2026

At The Scottish Government’s Learning Places Scotland Awards for our work in schools and with young people not attending school.
Unfortunately didn’t win, but glad to be in the final of this national award.

02/11/2026

Our Art Exhibition of the artworks produced by participants of our therapeutic art classes, will be on in our Barony St John Centre in Ardrossan this Saturday, 7th November, from 10am-2pm.
It’s free of charge. Please pop in and see us and support the artists. 👨‍🎨 😃👍

Therapeutic art classes bring artists’ reflections to life next weekend🎨

30/10/2026

We’re at the Funding Fayre trying our best to get funding for our charity (our courses, our Barony St John Centre and, of course, our well-being cafe).🤞

29/10/2026

Delighted to hear we’ve reached the final for The Community Galaxy Award at this year’s The Learning Disabilities & Autism Awards.
Our fingers are crossed 🤞

17/10/2026

Monday marks the start of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival which runs from 19th October - 8th November.
With many classes, workshops and exhibitions taking place across Scotland, there’s lots to choose from.
Our own therapeutic art classes are on every Thursday 3-5pm and some of their artwork will be on display at Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre throughout the festival with our own exhibition taking place in our Barony St John Centre on Saturday 7th November 10am-2pm. There’s no charge, so please pop in.
Festival organisers would be keen to hear your thought via SMHAF 2026 Audience Survey:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/TNR55J/.
We hope to see you soon.
SMHAF

17/10/2026

Monday marks the start of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival which runs from 19th October - 8th November with the theme of “Reflection”.
With many classes, workshops and exhibitions taking place across Scotland, there’s lots to choose from.
Our own therapeutic art classes are on every Thursday 3-5pm and some of their artwork will be on display at Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre throughout the festival with our own exhibition taking place in our Barony St John Centre on Saturday 7th November 10am-2pm. There’s no charge, so please pop in.
Festival organisers would be keen to hear your thought via SMHAF 2026 Audience Survey:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/TNR55J/.
We hope to see you soon.
SMHAF

17/10/2026

Monday marks the start of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival which runs from 19th October - 8th November.
With many classes, workshops and exhibitions taking place across Scotland, there’s lots to choose from.
Our own therapeutic art classes are on every Thursday 3-5pm and some of their artwork will be on display at Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre throughout the festival with our own exhibition taking place in our Barony St John Centre on Saturday 7th November 10am-2pm. There’s no charge, so please pop in.
Festival organisers would be keen to hear your thought via SMHAF 2026 Audience Survey:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/TNR55J/.
We hope to see you soon.

Led by the Mental Health Foundation, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is one of the world’s leading arts events dedicated to mental health. It is an internationally respected annual festival that combines high artistic quality with strong grassroots support, community engagement an...

10/10/2026

Congratulations to Barbara Pokryszka for winning the “Outstanding Contribution to the Sector” at The Mental Health Awards 2026 in London last night. 🥳👏
This award looked at the amazing results Barbara’s therapeutic art classes have had as well as her one-to-one trauma-informed Personal Safety sessions with female survivors of abuse/violence.
The judges commented;
“This award recognises your outstanding contribution to supporting the wellbeing of others. The judges were impressed by how powerfully you have turned lived experience into a legacy of hope, acting as a true pioneer in personal safety and
therapeutic art to help women rebuild their lives and literally save them in their darkest hours, and we are delighted to celebrate this well-deserved achievement with you.”
Wow! Well done, Barbara.

07/10/2026

This is happening far too frequently on trains from Glasgow to Ayrshire. Where are the Transport Police?