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.

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.

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.

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 a newly formed Parent Council. We represent the entire parent forum of Dumbarton Academy, and seek to improve educational and social experiences for all pupils at the school. We are committed to reducing inequity and in promoting recovery from the pandemic through opportunities to improve the Health and Wellbeing of our young people. We will establish a Sports Clothing bank within Dumbarton Academy, thus widening access to sports and wellbeing activities for young people and ensuring equity of opportunity. We don’t want any young people to miss out on health and wellbeing opportunities due to cost. The 605 pupils at Dumbarton Academy will benefit. 

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…’ 

We are a foodbank serving West Dunbartonshire, our main office is based in Dumbarton. We provide support to children and families affected by poverty and food insecurity in West Dunbartonshire.  We will use this funding to continue to buy food stock for the foodbank and continue our community soup project.

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. 

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.

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.