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.  

Alexandria Community Council is seeking to use the Communit Grant to commission two community notice boards to be erected in areas with regular footfall in Alexandria town centre. These would be handcrafted in durable wood. They would be designed to be accessible to wheelchair users with duplicate notices at 1000-1100mm and 150-1700mm. They would be place in locations which provide adequate turning space for wheelchairs. The design features of the notice board would hopefully become small focal areas in the town centre.

We will be engaging with a local wood crafting group in the design and construction of the notice boards.  Once constructed we will be communicating with community groups and inviting them to use the boards to promote their activities and events. We will have a QR code link to the Alexandria town website and Community Council Minutes and Agendas. The boards will be available for use by any group excluding political groups. We feel that these will be accessible and benefit local people and visitors to the area. It will provide information, which is often only available online at present, and often not readily available to many residents. It is hoped that this will help link more people with the groups and activities which are available.  

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. 

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.  

The Old Kilpatrick Community Council wants to engage the services of Community Links Scotland to support the preparation of a Community-led Local Place Plan.  The plan will be developed over the course of 6 months and will seek to identify the community’s aspirations and priorities as well as projects and developments which will form a community action plan.  The action plan will lead to real changes in the locations that the community identify as required and real investment in the area.

Through robust community engagement and activity, everyone in the Village will have an opportunity to contribute their ideas to the Place Plan.  The Community Council already has good relationships with community organisations such as scouts, the churches and the local schools and these relationships and others will be utilised to ensure the plan represents as many views as is possible.    

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.

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

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.