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.

We are a social enterprise engaging people in West Dunbartonshire with the arts. We are passionate about breaking down barriers, or perceived barriers, to participation. We work in areas of deprivation and with people with additional support needs. We will run a number of trips for young people aged 3-25 to see professional theatre/performance. Young people aged 3-25 from throughout West Dunbartonshire will benefit from the project. Our aim is to have 100 people attend the theatre as a part of this project. 

Silverton Summerplay was a group set up over 25 years ago by a group of parents with children at Knoxland Primary, Braehead Primary and St Patrick’s Primary to give the children in p4-p7 a week of fun activities in the summer.  We are now a committee of 12 volunteer parents from the 3 primary schools who continue this on an annual basis.  We meet as a committee every 2 months to plan fundraising events and also the fun week.  Our fundraising consists of discos for over 100 children as well as an annual bag packing in a local supermarket.  These funds are then used to book a fun day at Knoxland and various days out visiting parks and amusement parks.  This funding will be used to cover the costs of the coaches we hire for the trips and also towards the park entrance for the children. All families who take part in the summerplay week will benefit.  The cost of the week has been £50 and any additional funding would help to keep the cost of the trip to this level with the cost of the buses increasing over the last few years.

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. 

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.