Last week, Fife Constabulary hosted their 5th Special Constable of the Year awards ceremony and dinner at Police Headquarters.
Fifty Special Constables attended the ceremony where the Andrew Skinner Memorial Special Constable of the Year Award was won by Special Constable Roy Bower for his commitment to a karate youth project he started in Dunfermline and his enthusiasm for training new Special Constables.
Roy is 45 and is married with four children. He lives in Dunfermline and is stationed at Dunfermline Police Station. He is a full time accounts manager.
He is also a 3rd Dan Shotokan Karate instructor.
He received a Meritorious Award for Excellence in 2005, as before joining the Special Constabulary he started a karate youth diversion project along with Sgt Gordon Williamson, which has since proved highly successful.
It was after its introduction that Roy joined the Special Constabulary in 2006.
Roy has continued to tutor karate every Thursday night and regularly sees over 100 youths for free karate instruction at Dunfermline Police Station.
It has become so popular that there is a waiting list of 50.
To run this project at no cost to the youths, Roy also carries out charity work to raise funds for their tuition, competitions and belt grading.
Not only does he give his time freely to help this project, he also regularly turns out for duty at the weekend to aid beat duties.