We need to purchase a cooker and cooking utensils, teaching equipment, food, paying utilities and distributing the hot meals to the relevant people. This will involve the beavers (6-8 year olds), Cubs (8-10 year olds) and Scouts (10-14 year old).

beavers will be instructed on how to make basic sandwiches, cubs how to utilise basic equipment such as microwaves and scouts full blowing meals on the cooker. This will be done by looking at menus, getting the appropriate food , ie shopping and then how to prepare the food by chopping and carving food for cooking, then actually cooking the food. We will be advising the young people to time the cooking so that the food will be finished at the same time . We will inform the young people of issues with allergies and as the community is wide and have different cultures we will inform them of the differing types of food that is made through out the world and have respect for these communities,.

we will be distributed to local care homes, distribution to older and disabled people via relavent charities such as Clyde Shopmobility and relevant older people and disabled charities within the town. We will look at people who are isolated in their house and try to engage with them. As the coronavirus virus has lead to more and more people to have mental health issues we will try and engage with this community to ensure vthey can get warm food

This project will benefit the young people within  6th Clydebank  Scouts and endeavour the Scouts to have a good presence within the community.

We will then distribute the food appropriately 

cooker 900

food 500

utilities 900

distribution 200

Our project will pay for an experienced Community Garden Project Worker who will

Develop the project with the support of users and volunteers, Develop a seasonal food growing strategy for the space, Organise the allocation of raised beds , Provide ongoing support to all users , Liaise with local schools/nurseries and other local groups within the community to encourage wider engagement with the project, Organise weekly onsite tasks including maintenance and upkeep, Encourage and support the development of an allotments/growing spaces committee, Research further funding opportunities to support material/resource costs and long-term sustainability of the project

We believe our project will support the local community by

Providing the opportunity and resources for local people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, Providing local school children with basic gardening knowledge, highlighting the importance of healthy eating and increasing awareness of ‘where food comes from’, The users and participants will be able to supplement their family’s diets with food produced in the community growing space, Encouraging ownership and personal responsibility , Fostering collaboration and the benefits and positivity of working together, Providing a safe and inclusive space for people to meet and socialise – therefore reducing social isolation, Promoting intergenerational engagement through allotments/growing space users being supported to deliver gardening/growing sessions with local school children, Improving the physical and mental wellbeing of those involved

Breakdown of costs

£2,400 - Cost of Community Garden Project Worker to manage project/£20 per hour x 8 hours per week x 20 weeks

We are a locally run charity who deliver a mobility scooter, manual and powered wheelchair service to residents of the West Dunbartonshire and surrounding areas. By allowing individuals with mobility issues to get in and around the shopping centre, to shop, meet up with friends, or just go for a coffee. allowing individuals to feel part of their community.

We deliver a drop off and pick up service of the scooters and wheelchairs whereby our members can call the shop when they have arrived at the shopping centre and with the help of our staff/volunteers, we will deliver the equipment requested. The service is situated within the shopping centre the staff/volunteers can meet you at the car parks, bus stop, train station or taxi ranks.

We would like to apply for £1000 to get our service users who are aged  65 and over and suffer with food insecuriy in West Dunbartonshire, the help with food vouchers from Farmfoods. This will allow our service users to buy sufficient food for themselves as we know a lot of them are struggling with the cost of living crisis. We would also like £500 to go towards admin costs.

£500 for Food Vouchers 

£500 for Admin Costs 

£500 Food purchase

Running costs for parent and toddler group, family arts and crafts, men’s mental health, women’s walking and social group, adult ceramics and book club.

All group sessions will run for 10 to 12 weeks and hot meals will be provided for all participants.  Participation will be targeted at those most likely to experience food poverty.  (room rental, utilities, materials for classes etc.) £2000

Foodshare is an independent registered charity which was started in March 2013 in order to help people experiencing food poverty. We started off doing emergency food provision covering all of West Dunbartonshire, this was suppoesed to be temporary but since then the need for the service has increased and our numbers for support are rising every year. we provide this support by home delivery as we find this is more dignified for people and we are able to reach more elderly and housebound people. Along with food support, the charity has since developed other much needed projects including a School Uniform Bank where we provide a new school uniform for kids going back to school and also run this throughout the year, Fuel Bank where we offer we offer emergency top ups for pre payment meters, School Holiday Brunch Bags where we provide breakfast and lunches each day the schools are off, A Christmas Toybank and a Babybank. We work closely with other local organisations to reach as many people in need in our community. The high cost of basic necessities is placing significant burden on low income families. Recently we have seen an increase in need amongst low income working families. We would use £500 for food and £2000 towards operating costs including, Rent Unit 21, Utilities, Fuel costs for deliveries.

We are applying for funding to help towards our utility costs over the colder months when our bills are at an all time high. We run a food pantry, community cafe, warm hub and laundry service to vulnerable families who are struggling in financial hardship. Our running costs have increased by 30% since last year as a result of a surge in the demand for our services.  an average of 400 families visit us on a monthly basis and it's important that our building is warm, inviting and welcoming especially during the colder months.  our heating costs are averaging £1,200 although we haven't yet had a winter period in our new premises therefore we are very worried about what kind of increase we may see. 

During 2024 our group delivered a key cooking programme enabling 33 community members to come together to learn key skills in cooking based on low budget recipes.  This programme focussed solely on providing skills to women, this year we want to enable the group to encourage both men and women to get involved in our programme.   Being able to deliver the programme to a wider group will enable this programme to reach a wider audience of people.  Having successfully delivered the programme in 2024 enabled the group to reflect on the impact on social isolation; bringing 33 separate people together to form a social learning group, making friends with people that some of the group had never met before.  Friendships quickly formed during the learning process, increasing friendships and relationships with groups of people who may never have met if not for a common goal in learning to cook on a budget.  Following reflections with the group it was decided to offer a more wider menu this time to enable people with a more secluded diet rather than mainstream from last year.  It became apparent to the group that many including some of our members are forced to follow a strict diet, therefore to design and create a menu to accommodate other dietary needs would prove beneficial to a wide community as well as enabling other mainstream eaters to a new programme.  Priority would be given to those who are reliant on strict dietary needs this time as well emabling men to join the women in the learning.  The programme provides participants to cook a meal to take home for dinner to share with their families at each session.

A further aspect which was developed was that of the family bond, one family had three different generations learning to cook on a budget, enabling each of the members to develop key skiills; having a laugh together deciding to make learning fun for all involved, a further hope for the future programme that other families will get involved in learning key skills.  One member of this family had previously relied on fast foods to feed their family, having learned how to use kitchen equipment safely this enabled them to learn how to prepare fresh ingredients for their young child, who now regularly enjoys fresh vegetables as a snack at school rather than junk food.

Dumbarton West area forms part of West Dunbartonshire. listed third in the social deprivation index comprising of many negative trends such as child poverty and adult poverty trends.  Many people living in this area are reliant on welfare benefits to provide financial assistance to their families.  Many generations do not have the skills and knowledge on how to cook healthy meals.  During COVID 2019 the introduction of readily available mobile apps for ordering fast food and still popular some six years on, making cooking regular meals less appealing to the generations of today, preferring reliance on more conviennce foods to that of healthier options.

Empowering Women primarily aims to reduce mental health in women aged 16+, exploring eating healthy improves mental health in a variety of ways: eating healthy over a long period of time improves on physical wellbeing as well as social wellbeing and emotional wellbeing.  Looking after our body both internal and external not only provides the body with nourishment but also cuts down on the need for medical appointments and reduces long term heath conditions.  People who engage in lifelong learning skills are more likely to live longer.  

Funding will pay for the programme to run for a period of five months during 2025: May, June, August, September, October and November, bringing in season foods to enable the group to explore different recipes in a peer learning style.  Each week the group will consult on which recipes they would like to cook.  The first week will explore the benefits of eating healthy, briefly examine health condtions caused by not eating healthy and familiarise them with the kitchen and the equipment they will be using.  The first week will enable the group to meet each other, discuss future recipes and plan for future sessions between them.  It is hoped each of the members will take a turn on delivering a session to each other.  Any member not comfortable with this task can be supported by other members to deliver the sessions as a couple or as a smaller group of people to ensure no participant is left out from the leadership role.  This role enables participants to get invovled in all aspects of the sessions and to empower them in their learning.

Funding will cover venue let and running costs, these come to 2000 pounds with food costs coming to 500 pounds; based on providing good quality ingredients at a local low cost supermarket based in Dumbarton.  Promotion for the programme will be done over social media pages operated by Empowering Women and word of mouth.  

CLYDEBANK OSPREY AMATEUR BOXING CLUB are looking to set up a dry food pantry to help the local community. This will help not only the existing club participants but also make the club welcoming to all local residents hopefully encouraging them to participate in exercise in a warm, safe comfortable enviroment.  This will lead to life long health benefits and an increased sense of community in the locals area.

Community pantry build £1200 (including food purchase)

Running costs (utilities etc)  £1300

We are applying for £2,500 as we don't get any other support  from other agencies

We provide support signposting advice in collaboration with CAB who attend in person bi weekly and also offer support via referrals and phone numbers. We encourage carers to come in and not worry about their heating costs, we want to reduce isolation and we also provide support to over 110 kinship families within West Dunbartonshire 

We will open daily through Winter from 10am till 1.30 to facilitate this for families . 

£500 will be used for food 

The remainder will be spent on continuing support to both our weekly service. This will help with both volunteer and running costs 

We also require a soup urn and extra bowls dishes. 

The Phoenix provides a range of activities, groups and opportunities for residents of Dumbarton West.  At the heart of The Phoenix is a community cafe offering a free to access lunch three days a week and a community breakfast once a week.  It also provides holiday hunger provision and a range of other groups including toddler cooking classes and numeracy classes for adults built around cooking.  We also provide volunteer opportunities for adults to develop new skills, reduce isolation, improved wellbeing, and develop their employability chances.

Our switch from a comemrcial (although heavily subsidised) model to a free to access (although many provide donations) came about 18 months ago after consultation with service users and their concerns about the cost of living crisis and the food insecurity that would bring.  Local people have also acknowledged the importance of community and peer support the cafe has brought especially for single parents and those new to the community.  Many service users have also been able to access volunteer opportunities, access adult learning classes and access other groups and activites for their families.  This has reduced isolation and improved mental wellbeing. 

With much of the kitchen installed over 6 years ago, there are elements that could do with some upgrades and improvements.  This will allow us to continue to provide the key services we offer in the community cafe.

Upgrade of ovens: £1900

Upgrade of crockery: £100

Upgrade of drinks fridge: £500