Heart Start Inverclyde founder's 25 years of lifesaving work

The 67-year-old launched emergency life saving skills charity Heart Start Inverclyde while working at Greenock police station as a civilian custody officer.

Glen recognised that it was crucial that ordinary members of the public should be able to give cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, or CPR as it's known for short, and vital first aid training.

And 25 years on he says he has no plans to slow down.

In fact he is relaunching the initiative, with plans to go out into community centres around the area and run a new series of classes to ensure the next generation has those same life-saving skills.

Glen's devotion to his own community runs deep and he has only recently stepped down from the Port Glasgow High School parent council after serving for 28 years.

Glen Miller (Image: George Munro)

The dad-of-three, who is married to wife Maureen and stays in Devol, said: "We had to get training in CPR working as a custody officer.

 "At the time I was an officer in the Boys' Brigade and I thought 'we could be doing with this', so we started it up."

Some of the detail of the training has changed, not least because of the growth in the network of publicly accessible defibrillators, or 'defibs', which simply weren't around when Glen started out training others in the late 1990s.

But all the basics are still covered.

"With all the school kids, all the groups and all the sessions, we must have trained around 20,000 people over the years, easily," Glen said.

"We have been involved in a lot over the years, training sports leaders in high schools to be trainers as well. It is such a vital life skill to have, and I believe passionately in it.

Glen Miller (Image: George Munro)

"It is so rewarding to see people coming in to the class apprehensive and leaving feeling so much more confident."

"I think more people want to know how to work defibrillators now, and that is a lot of our training."

After leaving the armed services, Glen worked for many years as the 'face behind the counter' at the Rue End Street police station, while he was also the 'turnkey' for the cells, looking after all those who found themselves in custody.

"No two days were ever the same," he recalled. 

"I was trained by a legendary 'turnkey', Jim Gamble, a great man who has sadly now passed. He was a turnkey all his days, and his dad was before him as well.

"Working behind the counter, and in the cells, you dealt with people from all walks of life. I think I learned a lot: I learned not to be judgemental, I learned about being compassionate, while also being aware.

" We were such a great team at the police station. It was a real family."

Glen Miller (Image: George Munro)

Following his army service, Glen worked as a civilian member of police staff for 33 years, first in Port Glasgow and then in Greenock.

After retiring he went to work at B&Q - but then decided to return to the police station, this time as a janitor.

"I rejoined the family!" he said. "I absolutely loved that job, As janitor you dealt with absolutely everyone and everything."

The former Clune Park Primary and Port Glasgow High school pupil joined the Royal Signals as an 18-year-old and remained in the army for six years before deciding it was time to return home.

"I loved my time in the army and I learned a lot," he said. 

"But it was hard going, and I was away from home a lot in West Germany and down south."

Family man Glen and wife Maureen brought up their three children Craig, now 34, and twin girls Amy and Laura, aged 31, in his home town.

When his children were younger, Glen decided to join the parent council at their school, first at Boglestone Primary and then Port Glasgow. He stayed for 28 years, overseeing many changes including the new campus which brought Port Glasgow High under the same roof as St Stephen's High and Craigmarloch, for pupils with additional support needs.

"I loved being part of the school," he said.

"I gained a real insight into education and representing parents. I sat on the education committee as a parent representative and was also on the Scottish Schools Board. I was involved in years of fund-raising.

"I worked with so many fantastic teachers and head teachers. Port Glasgow High is a great school.

"One of our greatest achievements in the town is the shared campus. Bringing three schools together has been a massive success story.

"I am very proud to have been involved in it from the start."

Somehow, in between giving life-saving skills training and serving with the parent council, Glen has found time for so many other great passions in his life.

He was a member of the 4th Port Glasgow Boys' Brigade and later an officer, while he also helped out as an officer in the 8th Greenock, until he was overtaken by his other commitments.

"The Boys' Brigade is a great organisation," he said, "but I became involved in Heart Start and you can't do everything."

He's also a keen fly fisher, and is a member of both the Port Glasgow and Dunrod Angling Clubs, having taken up the pursuit when one of his daughters showed an interest in her youth.

"My daughter has long given it up," he said, "but I love it. I love being part of the fishing community, getting to know everyone."

And when he isn't giving first aid training or casting a rod and line, he can be found at his Caddlehill allotment, or volunteering with the Inverclyde Shed, where he has taken up bee keeping.

And on top of all that, he's a music teacher too. 

During lockdown Glen found himself learning the ukeulele to pass the time, and with encouragement from Port Glasgow High teacher Julie Ballantyne he gained a qualification and is now running an after school Ukulele group for pupils.

"I had never played an instrument in my life, apart from maybe the bugle in the Boys Brigade," he said.

"But it was something to do during the pandemic and I gained a qualification out of it. I love the ukeulele group, there are some fantastic musicians in it."

Even though he's undergone knee replacement surgery, Glen is stepping up his commitment to Heart Start, and after years of focusing on the area's school pupils, now he wants to run classes for the wider public.

Heart Start Inverclyde started out as a British Heart Foundation initiative and is now run through Save A Life Scotland, which Heart Start Inverclyde is affiliated to.

Speaking about what has motivated him in all his various roles and his working life, Glen said: "I come from Port Glasgow and I feel a really strong sense of community.

"It is important to me. I am also very much a people person as well."