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.  

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. 

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.