It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Stuart Ballantyne, Secretary, friend and much loved team member.

Stuart sadly passed away from COVID-19 at the age of 60 early on the evening of Monday 9 November 2020.

Stuarts funeral will be held on Wednesday 18 November 2020 at 1100 hours at Killearn Woodland Cemetery.

Stuarts family have requested that as the service is at a woodland cemetery no flowers can be left and instead anyone looking to make a donation can donate to Trossachs Search and Rescue Team which Stuart dedicated his life too.

Stuarts family would like to thank everyone for your kind words and thoughts at this very difficult time.

Stuart joined Central Scotland Police in 1981 and performed frontline operational police duties from 1981 to 2004 in a number of stations including Falkirk, Grangemouth Docks, Stenhousemuir, Denny, Stirling then the small rural stations at Blanefield and Balfron near Loch Lomond before transfer to Bannockburn. Thereafter he transferred to the Community Safety Policy Unit and held posts in the Race Equality Unit then as the Force Antisocial Behaviour Officer, Force Crime Prevention Officer and Force Equality and Diversity Officer before spending his last year in the Computer Crime Unit at Falkirk and retiring as Sergeant in February 2011.

It was during Stuarts career in Central Scotland Police that he created Trossachs Search and Rescue Team in 1997. From the teams formation up to his death he had many roles within the team including Dog Handler, Chairman, Team Secretary and Callout Organiser and he was extremely passionate about Urban SAR dogs, Search and Rescue, First Responders, Rescue Boats, the delivery of Heartstart classes and Public Access Defibrillators across the Trossachs and beyond!

Stuart was also Chairman of the West of Scotland Regional Resilience Partnership's Voluntary Sector Functional Group.

Stuart will be sadly missed and your donation will ensure those services continue as he would have wanted. Thank you.