PICTURE 1: Even official agencies have been known to take action to have their voice heard in the face of cuts and erosion of what they feel are vital services – and this picture show one such event.

In 2012, coastguards gathered on the beach below Greenock’s Esplanade to protest about the service being relocated to Belfast and the dangers they perceived would result. The coastguards held a flare protest, which certainly provided a spectacle that was both eerie and straight to the point.

As people looked on from above, the coastguards formed a line along the sand and held flares aloft in the dying light of the day.

It made for a very unusual sight and one which, at least, caught the public’s attention.

PICTURE 2: When we took a Telegraph petition to push for a change in knife crime law, the occasion presented a variety of picture opportunities, some of which were very emotive and brought back painful memories for many of the people involved.

A red rose, representing every person who had lost their lives to knife crime, was laid before the Parliament building during a dignified and moving ceremony.

I took this picture at the moment when John Muir put down his rose in memory of his son Damian, who died after an attack on Inverkip Street. 
John was eventually awarded an MBE for his services to victims of crime and crime prevention. 

PICTURE 3: In protest at a tax that left the Conservative Party in ruins north of the border for years after, activists fought with sheriff officers on local doorsteps to prevent them from impounding the possessions of those who had refused, or simply could not pay, the Poll Tax. 

This picture shows the moments during an attempted warrant sale poinding which took place at Macbeth Road in Greenock’s Fancy Farm in the winter of 1994.

As tensions rose, well known activist Tommy Sheridan joined others to repel officers who were instructed to remove the possessions of those within certain properties and thought to be in arrears of tax payment.

I think this shot shows something of that tension, which eventually boiled over into a full scale scrap just minutes later. 

PICTURE 4: This picture shows a key moment when Richard Lochhead, Holyrood’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, was handed the Telegraph petition in 2015 to have the law on animal cruelty changed.

An attack on an aviary and Pets Corner in Gourock, which saw rabbits and other animals left dead or dying after being bludgeoned by a golf club-wielding thug, provoked a public outcry and a call for the law to be changed.

We asked a time- bar on proceedings that means culprits can escape prosectution after a certain time passes be scrapped.

Thanks to the petition, the goverment promised to consider a change in the law which would afford animals something like the protection we humans enjoy. 

PICTURE 5: Anyone who has visited a loved one in hospital knows the importance of a place where they can go and gather their thoughts and talk with relatives over a comforting cup of tea or coffee, and this next picture tells of a victory for a very special group of selfless people who give their time to provide that much needed service, and at a cost that doesn’t hit hard the pockets of their customers.

After health board chiefs decided to close the much-loved League of Friends cafe in Inverclyde Royal Hospital, and replace it with a corporate coffee shop which would charge a great deal more for its services, the Telegraph mobilised public opinion to ensure things stayed the way they were.

After a hard-fought campaign, I took this photo of League of Friends leaders, Helen Wyllie, who gave over 30 years service to the charity and has sadly passed away since, pictured with Jean Rees and Enid McDonald.

The determination of these three women, along with their colleagues, means the tea bar survives to this day. giving visitors to the hospital support in their time of need.