Working in schools, colleges and other organisations we work alongside young people the Autistic Spectrum who may not fit the We aren’t school, we aren’t church, we are somewhere in between.  We can help individuals, parents and those who work and live around folk on the Spectrum and if we can’t help we will point people in the direction of those that can. We will use the funding for Developing and paying for our website so people can access help and ideas, travel, equipment and getting this activity of the ground properly. This will benefit Individuals and their parents, as well as organisations such as schools, Churches and all those working with folk on the Spectrum.  Examples of our work can be found on our website.

Dumbarton Shoto Budo is based out of the Concord Community Centre in Dumbarton. At present our group consists of approximately 30 members made up of people aged between 5 and 62. Our primary focus is Self-Defence and all of our sessions are developed around this. This funding will be used to cover the cost of renting the hall and our participants memberships and insurances which at present is our biggest expenditure.

St Marys Primary School, Clydebank, G81 6DL. We, The Parent Council, are made up of 4 core elected members however parents/carers and automatically invited when their child is enroled in the school. We aim to raise funds to help enrich the childrens learning.We would improve one of our playgrounds which is delapitated and has a lack of resources to benefit the childrens social, emotional and physical well-being. Approx. 400 children in the school and attatched nursery will be able benefit from the improvements.

Our Social Group brings together autistic people (aged 18-35) from across West Dunbartonshire. The group reduces social isolation among autistic people living locally, and supports them to become more active in the community. Our Social Group is run by a specialist support worker and 3 volunteers. The grant would cover the costs of the staff involved, plus a range of social group activities. This will benefit up to 15 autistic people aged between 18 – 35 years who live in West Dunbartonshire.

We are based in Centre81 in Clydebank, we run an art and sport club on a Friday night and Saturday morning this service is for children who have autism, siblings are also welcome. Parents have an area provided for parents who want to stay and chat through the sessionsWe will use the funding to expand the group to meet the demand as we are getting new referrals weekly. This will benefit Children and families affected by Autism.

The WW2 Dunkirk little ship, the Skylark IX’s story of hope and resilience is what inspires all of our Community Engagement activity, alongside the people we work with. Weekly, five adults in recovery and one retired community member participate in our boatbuilding programme based in the Denny Tank Museum, Dumbarton.  We also have 14 members of the community who engage weekly in our textile group based in the Lennox Evangelical Church. Over the past few years we have continued to engage with young people in schools and local community centres, as well as running our own youth sessions outside, locally, all around West Dunbartonshire.  Our regular Community Engagement activities helps to reduce social isolation, and creates opportunities for skills building in a meaningful, inclusive, therapeutic and collaborative way, developing our Skylark IX Crew Culture, which makes everyone involved feel a part of something for their collective or individual goals and aspirations.   We intend to have Skylark IX Rowing School Summer sessions running twice weekly for 6 weeks through July and August 2023, specifically targeting young people ranging from ages 12-25. These sessions will be based out at Balloch on Loch Lomond and the River Leven at our base by the Maid of the Loch. We will utilise funding to bring in support and expertise from partnering organisations such as Royal West Amateur Rowing Club, alongside our own team of trained volunteers from our current programmes/rowing school members and employ a sessional youth worker to support the logistics and operational support of the project engaging with the young people too.  We will purchase any necessary extra water safety equipment (i.e. life jackets) and buy materials for our boatbuilders to produce smaller oars. We will also utilise a bit of contingency for any other potential amendments to our wooden boats or adjustments that may need to be resolved in the workshop, to ensure our boats are fully accessible for any young person wishing to be participate. This will be a free activity for young people, where they will be supported with safe travel where required, to and from our sessions, and we will help tackle holiday hunger by providing ample amounts of healthy breakfasts, lunches, water and snacks for all involved.  We will also purchase Crew T-shirts and beanies to gift to the young people involved, to evoke further becoming part of "The Skylark IX Crew".

Clydebank Community Sport Hub (CCSH) was formed in 2012 when 4 local sports clubs came together with the vision of creating a hub facility that would not only provide a home for the clubs but also deliver a variety of outcomes to benefit the wider community. Our project will provide sport and physical activity sessions and workshops on Friday evenings at Clydebank Community Sport Hub for young people aged 11-16 years. The main beneficiaries will be the young people who engage in the project. We will advertise the project through the existing clubs and partner organisations and also ask other local organisations and schools to promote the project.

Based in the heart of Clydebank serving all ages of our community from art classes, Music Making for adults, Music school for youths, creche area and toddler groups, Gaming, Pool tournaments, Fortnite and FIFA tournaments, Karaoke Club, Magic School, Cooking School for adults and Meditation classes. We are applying for funding for a special filming project that follows teens around their areas who keep saying ‘Nothing to do.. or I’m bored’. This mini documentary film will be a week-long diary of times and places where they can access services in their local community. This will consist of community youth groups within the local area and highlight the activities on offer at certain times and days. We will work with our youth film making group to plan, write, film and edit the documentary as well as take part on screen. The youths within the Clydebank area will have a chance to join our filming group and take part in this fantastic project. This can benefit all the families who have youths that keep hearing.. ‘I’m Bored and there’s nothing to Do…’ 

Bags Full of Love is a charity operating in West Dunbartonshire for children in Foster & kinship care. We provide children coming in to care with a backpack filled with new essential items and clothing so that the carer does not have to rush out shopping and can spend quality time getting to know the child in their care, this also gives the child a chance to settle in their new home and have new items just for them which gives comfort on probably the worst day of their lives. The money will be used for buying stock for our bags and for as each bag costs between £70-£100 depending on the childs age.  Last year we distributed 45 bags to children in West Dunbartonshire.

At Mini Messy Monsters we provide messy and sensory place for all children as children with ASN could come and the parents could relax due to there being no “structure” to messy and sensory play so children were not seen as being “naught and disruptive” !. We hope in the near future to put on more days during the week also, the best thing about class is that we are accessible for all children and families in particular who have more than one child have somewhere they can take all their  children at the same time, classes are normally for the dreaded terms “asn children” or “mainstream children” and at our classes we do not believing in separating children and all children should play together! The problem is unfortunately there is not many places that are accessible for all children. Our numbers vary each session but we can take up to 40 children per session. The monies will be spent on buying accessible Messy and sensory equipment for all children, along with helping us to provide our new Makaton song and story class and accessible dance class for all children.