Police Scotland Youth Volunteers are a voluntary organisation, led by Police Scotland and encourages our young people to achieve the best that they can be.  Each group can support up to 24 young people who are mentored by adult volunteers and our aim is to engage with the young people of West Dunbartonshire, release their spirit of adventure and support the local community through various initiatives.   During our evening sessions, our volunteers learn about First Aid, Water Safety, policing, partnership working and the various charities that support their local communities. This develops their skills and confidence and are then put to the test by assisting with voluntary hours at local organisations, events and fund raisers. We also encourage our volunteers into peer-education such as ‘No Knives Better Lives’ and ‘Keep Safe Scotland’.  Each young person can achieve Saltire Award certificates for their voluntary time and accredited qualifications and awards The money provided will allow for young people, from all backgrounds, to join without any restrictions or barriers, (financial or otherwise). Each volunteer must wear a uniform when attending at organised events and although every effort is being made to recycle uniform. Funding is required for the purchase of individual uniform items which both the youth and adult volunteers are required to wear. A full uniforms and suitable footwear for registered volunteers can cost in excess of £150.00 per person.

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.

We are based in Dalmuir at Golden friendships club. We have 500 + members. Our weekly activities include Arts and crafts, Drama, karaoke, Dinner clubs, Bingo clubs, Entertainment, Dancing, Singing. We also have a campaign tackling loneliness and are currently planning outdoor activities and bus trips. Gardening is one of our newest activities.We will use the money to make our new gardening plot accessible. For all. We want to make it wheelchair friendly put in raised bed and other necessary requirements to make gardening available to all. The funds will benefit the members and we will also use some of the money towards our outdoor activities where we will need to travel. 

We are a Football Club with a youth Academy based in Alexandria, we have 252 playing members and 52 non playing members. The money will be used to help with the cost of facility hire and to relieve the financial burden in families due to the cost-of-living crisis. This will benefit Our members within our community.

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".

Centre81 Steering group are based in Centre81 in Whitecrook and provide activities for local young people and their families.  We try to provide consistent weekly sessions focusing on arts, sports, cooking, and other activities that provide not only fun but a range of soft skills and build relationships within our community.  We are applying for funding to continue providing these opportunites for young people in 2023.

Sessions at the horticulture project at Knowetop form part of the recovery programme offered by Alternatives to clients in its community-based and residential programmes. Our Into Nature programme of afterschool and school holiday sessions, runs from March to October and there is a range of outdoor activities, storytelling, and nature inspired art and crafts. We also work with schools, and to date 108 children from the 2 local primaries have taken part in our schools programme. This funding will be used to develop and deliver a programme of outdoor activities at Knowetop for 11 to 18 year olds, providing young people with opportunities to experience nature and take part in workshops to learn new practical skills. This project is aimed at young people between 11 and 18 years old from anywhere across West Dunbartonshire. Our programme to date has focused more on younger children, and we’ve identified a gap in our provision for this age group.

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 a parent council of approximately 15 members supporting 350 pupils within the school. We do this by meeting regularly with school senior leaders to discuss school issues and ways the parent council can support the school.  We do regular fundraising that helps to supplement school funds, which are used to enhance the children’s educational experience.   Fundraising is done through events such as Christmas and spring fairs, bounce-a-thons, sponsored walks.  The money will be used to purchase Chromebooks for Knoxland Primary School. This will benefit all children, teaching and support staff within the school environment, giving them access to a wider range of resources and digitally enabled lessons.

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.