The West Dunbartonshire Amateur Swimming Club (WDASC) has been in existence for over 100 years. It’s a parent led, not-for-profit organisation that develops the skills of West Dunbartonshire’s young people by participating in club swimming. WDASC is all about increasing the opportunities for our young people. Through club swimming, our young people develop life skills that will inherently improve their personal growth. 

We intend to purchase equipment that will upgrade the capabilities of the local swimming pools in West Dunbartonshire.  Thanks to the support of our local Leisure Trust, we operate out of the Clydebank Leisure Centre & ‘Vale of Leven’ pools. This new equipment will allow our pools to host ‘accredited’ swimming competitions in our community for the first time in 40 years. Currently our young athletes can only travel outside of our community to participate in swimming competitions. This comes with a financial cost to parents & carers that can sometimes, sadly, exclude our young people. 

Hosting competitions not only for our own young athletes, but also those from outside of our community, will help generate much needed income that can subsidise the costs charged to parents from the West Dunbartonshire’s Lesure Trust. 

Through community fundraising we are close to achieving our goal. A successful application to the ‘small grants’ fund will allow us to achieve our goal by summer 2024

Kinship Care West Dunbartonshire is based in Clydebank, and provide peer support groups, we provide caravan respite breaks 61 families last season . We have a child’s mental health group ‘still me’ we want to start a homework class for kinship children. We support over 100 families weekly and counting .We are moving to a large own level space to further our mission to eradicate isolation in kinship and achieve better outcomes for families but most importantly the children we care for.

We need a small kitchen to help provide more support to our users, and plan to convert one of the four rooms we have into a small kitchen space. We’d like to provide organic veg at least once a week to families from growers locally in West Dunbartonshire. We are hoping to get a small plot this year so kids and carers can grow their own and help not only nutritional needs but also teach then to use green space including their own gardens . We need food storage as with bigger space comes more families.

Milton Village Community Group was formed in July 2022. Our initial activities related to the Village Hall which we are custodians of following the demise of the previous hall group. We now run community activities and events from the Hall and have been able to create a focus for village community life. Our activities have been very well received and well attended. The young people of the community designed and painted a mural within the hall during the October holidays and we feel that a sense of community ownership of the hall and the surrounding area is growing within the community. 

We completed the initial stage application for the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme through Local Energy Scotland. We were successful in this application which then allowed us to make a request for an Energy efficiency assessment. This is now completed and we have the evidence advising of the changes that would enhance the operation of the building and importantly cut the energy costs which are currently curtailing the use of the hall. More importantly it has been agreed in principle that we will receive 75% of the costs from the Government's SME Loan Scheme with the group required to support the remaining 25% of the costs, we will use the grant to cover these costs. 

The Hall which sits within King George V Field which is the only field in trust in West Dunbartonshire and is maintained by the Council on behalf of the Village. Our activities and the offer we make to the community is hampered by the energy inefficiency of the Hall. We cannot open as often as we would like in the winter months due to the cost of energy and heating the Hall. The work we are proposing will reduce the carbon footprint of the hall (in terms of energy) by up to 72% and reduce our energy costs by a similar amount.  

Golden Friendships is a community-focused charity supporting youngsters, people with additional support needs, disabled people and the elderly. We bring everyone together at the Golden Friendships Community Hall in Dalmuir to reduce loneliness, reduce isolation and improve social inclusion and wellbeing. We operate out of the Golden Freindships Hall in Dalmuir, where we run a number of events and services. Our main aim is to look after the more vulnerable in our society through group activities, entertainment and social settings like lunch clubs. We regularly talk to our members to find out how they are and what they need. One of our focuses is tackling loneliness in the community. We are providing activities to try and help peoples mental health such as our weekly walking group, we have a plot in Dalmuir for gardening projects, we have regular bus outing and activity trips.

We wish to use the Community Grants to refurbish our stock room as it has not been touched since we bought the building. The floor is uneven and needs to be redone. All old wiring needs ripped out and secure shelving and storage space needs to be put in. The ceiling has to be replaced and new lighting required. It is a large space that runs off our café bar and is used regularly. 

Isaro Community Initiative is a community led organisation set up in 2010 and based in Clydebank at Centre81.

Our project consists of opening a new community space on 22 Alexander Street in Clydebank. We hope to reenergise e this long empty shop to provide good quality new and donated clothes at every reasonable prices. We will also have kids clothes and toys, games , books etc. These will be all set in a warm and welcoming café environment serving exotic teas and coffees, home made pastries and sweet treats for the people in Clydebank and surrounding areas.

We tried in the past to get permissions to open this shop but clearly, we do don’t have the expertise to make the application. This fund would help us obtain professional advice by employing the services of a local architect and the surveyor.

As we only have one Toilet Block at the Vale of Leven Football Club which doesn't have disabled access, a new disabled toilet will help us include disabled members, their familiy and the wider community who cannot currently attend events due to the lack of proper toilet facilities.

This project will help maintain their dignity, and allows the Football Club to be more inclusive for our community. We are also aiming to reach out to local care homes to allow their residents to come to The Millburn (our grounds) on match days. We want them to be able to watch the game, enjoy a free pie and bovril and feel part of their local community. 

The Gavinburn Primary Parent Council aims to strengthen ties between the school, the pupils and Old Kilpatrick community. Following discussions with the schools management team, one of our identified priorities this year is to improve the school grounds and the opportunities within.

We intend to install a variety of new playground equipment and markings to reengage the children in playground activities. Some of the markings we have chosen would also be beneficial for outdoor learning opportunities, however our main priority with this project is increasing physical activity at break times and after school clubs. This equipment and markings would also be available for the community clubs who make use of the school through LETS. This will happen on the playground behind the school building and along either side. It is our ambition to provide each age range of children a new playground experience and to increase physical activity for all. This will also help us to resocialise the children in the wake of the pandemic. 

Our plan is to add educational and fun playground activities for all children to enjoy, at present our equipment is out dated and no longer engaging enough for our currents needs within the school.  The equipment purchased will also be suitable for and used to support children with additional needs within the school.

When it will happen will be dependent on both when funding comes through and the availability of the providers but we would seek to do this at the first available school holiday period in order to ensure the works can be carried out safely and an exciting launch to the children.  

The Lennox and Argyll Battalion is a charitable unincorporated independent Organization and part of the overall Boys’ Brigade movement. Our hall on Smollett Street, Alexandria,  requires an upgrade to its kitchen. The kitchen was last upgraded about 30 years ago and now showing it’s age.Maintaining a clean and hygienic kitchen is essential for health and safety reasons. We will look to install a new double sink can help by separating food prep from dishwashing. You can use one side for washing raw produce and the other for washing dishes, reducing the risk of cross-contamination. Plus, having a designated sink for food prep can help keep our kitchen organised and efficient. We will also replace work tops and some kitchen carcasses. Our 30 old year cooker will be replaced by a  Electric Ceramic Cooker (Stainless Steel).

The project is part of a larger phased refurbishment project which started in 2018 with the replacement of an inefficient heating system with a heat pump system thanks to a Community Budgeting Phase 3 grant of £5000 and an interest free loan of £7300 from the Energy Saving Trust. The whole lighting system in the building was converted to  LED lighting at the same time.  In 2019 and 2023 the apprentice painters from the Clydebank campus of the West College painted most of the inside of the main hall and associated smaller rooms for free. In return the apprentices gained valuable experience and enhanced their skills .

The Claire Burns School of Dance Fundraising Committee is looking to purchase equipment to aid deliver classes to less physical able-bodied children to which we would love to welcome at the school. The Committee supports the dance school as a parent led organization. We raise funds to buy equipment to aid the dance school deliver the best teaching possible and give the kids the best opportunities, which in turn helps kids with their physical health and mental well-being.  

The school has offered scholarships to kids who would not be able to do dance classes, be it through affordability or disability. Claire believes in inclusion no matter their abilities be it mental or physical.  Having more specialized equipment will help use be able to deliver classes to the less abled.   

All kids have the chance to work towards B.A.T.D. exams no matter there abilities as they get older and we have one young person who has just done this and now holds her own dance class within the school.

Clyde Shopmobility are a locally run charity who deliver a mobility scooter, manual and powered wheelchair service to residents of West Dunbartonshire and surrounding areas to get around Clyde Shopping Centre.  

The funds will allow us to purchase 2 bariatric mobility scooters so that some of our service users feel more comfortable while using our equipment to get around the Clyde Shopping Centre to shop, meet up with friends or just get a coffee. We are looking to replace our larger mobility scooters which are now 11 years old with 2 new larger ones.