Our project aims to provide additional support to individuals and families in the local community by offering an additional breakfast session and afternoon soup and toasty session.  The initiative is designed to address food and fuel insecurity while also promoting mental wellbeing and offering a space for people to connect with others in their community.  

Key Objectives 

1 - provide access to free meals - additional breakfast session and a new afternoon session providing soup and toasties, available to all within the community

2 - reducing social isolation - encouraging social interaction and reducing isolation by giving people space to connect with others 

3 - combat food and fuel insecurity - ensuring that no one goes without food and the warmth they need throughout the day

4 - supporting wellbeing - offering a safe welcoming environment for individuals and families to socialise and feel supported 

5 - collaborate with local services - partnering with other local organisations to offer additional support, resources and information on services that could benefit individuals and families 

Cost Breakdown

Food - £500

Sessional Staff/Volunteer Costs (including training) - £1600

Catering Equipment - £400

Our funds are depleting rapidly due the current and predicted raise of utility costs and this has affected and will continue to affect the use of the Village Community Hall for our villagers as a meeting place that provides support, fun, health and wellbeing and reduce loneliness and isolation for villagers of all ages in our community and surrounding area.

The 2025 plan until June includes regular village and community meetings; Bingo night; Ceilidh night; Quiz night; Learn and Grow sessions; Drop In and Chat Group; Easter Week activities and events; a proposed Walking Group and Ukulele Group.

We have also made contact with ‘Men Matter’ as we have had interest in starting some form of Mens’ Group looking at such things as cycling and recycling, walking football/exercise in the new MUGA; Pat Testing; and enhancing our park facilities identifying skills that that can be shared to help in enhancement our village environment.

Working with WDC Greenspace we were delighted to secure a WDC Large Grant Funding and Landfill Tax Funding for the installation of a new MUGA in the King George V Field in Milton. When completed it is envisaged that our Village Community Hall will be used even more and will encourage all ages to be more active having a positive impact on overall health.

We worked with Business Energy Scotland for 18 months concluding in a large grant application for conversion of the Village Community Hall to greener energy. In August 2024 this was deemed as unsuccessful. In the interim we have applied for other grants towards the 25% contribution required from our group, for a planning application and other small costs and were successfully awarded these grants which we will currently hold in our bank account until we are successful in securing the large amount of funds required to complete this project. 

To enable all of this to happen we are still actively working on this project in order to achieve meeting our greener energy targets and cutting our current utility costs by 75% as advised in our Business Energy Report to enable all this to happen.

We are currently in need of a new fridge/freezer, which due to inefficiency, requires replacement and should help towards reducing some of our overall running costs. 

Purchase of new fridge/freezer at a cost of £300.

Contribution towards food costs £500

Contribution to utility costs £1700 - Hopefully covering a six month period

In order for us to continue functioning in the way we have over the last two and half years as a group, we request the assistance of a total grant of £2500 in order to be able to sustain and utilise our community resources.

We are requesting funding to help with the cost of a sessional gardener to provide training/ support to our volunteers and plot holders.

In addition to food growing we run a twice weekly wellbeing in nature group, aimed at using greenspace and nature to reduce isolation, encourage people to spend time outdoors and experience the benefits of improved mental health and wellbeing as a result. Attendees can also take part in food growing activities if they wish.

The full cost of establishing the community plots will be in the region of £12,000 to £15,000, we have funding, and offers of in-kind support in place to cover this work.

To help people gain the skills to be successful at food growing, and support our plot holders and volunteers we wish to have a sessional community gardener on site for 3 to 4 hours a week for 30 weeks. Their role will be to plan and deliver workshops / sessions on growing fruit and veg.

Hourly rate for sessional gardener £20 per hour.

Breakdown of costs:

4x£20 = £80 per week     30 weeks @ £80 =£2400

£100 towards cost of  seeds for plot holders or to cover volunteer travel expenses if travelling by public transport for volunteer sessions.

Lomond Community Pantry started in October 2024 providing food provision for anyone in need living in the G83 postcode.  Anyone in the community can register as members and receive 10 items of consumables for £3 each week, without having to prove that they are in food poverty, thus reducing the stigma of being in need of welfare support.  We are open on Thursdays from 4pm-8pm, and Fridays 10am-4pm and have 92 members registered,  over 25 volunteers helping with the running of the Pantry.  We have repurposed the old BB hall in Jamestown as the Pantry and are grateful to West Dumbarton Council, Lomond Parish Church, Haldane Tenants and Residents Association and several local companies/groups for support in refurbishing the hall and establishing the food supply. Registration as an SCIO  (053796) was received in November 2024 allowing us to open a charitable bank account on 3rd January 2025, during 2024 our finances were managed as a restricted fund by Lomond Parish Church.  

Our projection for running costs for 2025 is £16000, covering food provision (£9k), electricity (heating), insurance, rental (£5k), sundries (£2k). We will receive a revenue grant of  £3000 from WDC Cost of Living Welfare fund, and food donations from various groups in  the Vale of Leven Area, but we will require additional grant funding to sustain the Pantry, so a contribution of £450 for food provision and £500 towards heating costs would be appreciated.  We need to instal a compliant fire exit which  will cost £630 (hopefully fitted by volunteers).  While the WDC Community Payback team were installing level access to the Pantry, they had to remove the security gates and we need to replace these at a cost of £900 since the old ones were a H&S risk.    The intention is that ownership of the building will be transferred from Lomond Parish Church to Lomond Community Pantry during 2025, and we have permission from the Church to carry out the changes to the fabric of the building.

Such is the demand,  the Trustee Board are reviewing the opening hours to extend coverage to the beginning of the week.  We have made arrangements with local care workers to pick up supplies on behalf of members living  in local sheltered housing, and have provided emergency food supplies for West Dumbarton Woman's refuge. We've also had support from Balloch School Campus and made sure that all schools in G83 postcode know of our existance and can pass information to parents who may be in need.  Over the winter we have been providing a hot drink/ soup and biscuits to members, have a book library, and  a limited  school uniform bank.  

Our project is to help anyone struggling with food poverty to be able to come in to Golden Friendships club and access either free freshly cooked meals or subsidised freshly coopked meals. We have projects ongoing throught the years that tackle social isolation where we bring people together with freshly cooked meals and some entertainment. We also host afternoons for families each month where we provide hot and cold drinks with hot and cold snacks. At the moment we are doing free freshly cooked meals October to end of March to help with the cost of living crisis.

What we would like to apply for funding for is new refrigeration. We are currently using domestic fridges and freezers and have been advised we should be using commercial items. 

The total cost of what we need is laid out below.  If we secured £2500 from Community Budgeting, this would go towards the total fund cost.

3 x Fridge Foster Xtra 600l @1,803.75  Refrigeration  £5411.85

2 x Freezer Foster Xtra 600l @1803.75  Freezers        £3607.90

1 x Chest freezer 504l                             Freezer          £1679.98

1 x Hot plate Warmer                              Plate Warmer  £768.00

                                                              TOTAL COST    £ 11467.73

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 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. 

Action Old Kilpatrick has worked in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Councils Greenspace Team for a number of years which has included the use of a large greenhouse situated in Old Dalnottar Cemetary. This has allowed for the group to grow a variety of plants from seed and distribute throughout the flower beds in the village. We have successfully grown vegetables for the community including a herb bed.

However, the greenhouse has not been utilised to its full potential due to the demands required of water and volunteer hours.

The installation of a watering system will allow AOK to grow more vegetable and herbs for the benefit of the community. We have two established food banks servicing the area and a housing complex and having a greater amount of food available will help us directly respond to a growing need for fresh, accessible, free food within the community. 

The Total Cost is £491.52

Water Butt  x3  £123

Soaker Hose x4 £104

Timer Hose  £62.82

Standard Hose £17,54

Connector Kit x4 £34.16

Seeds/plants/ compost £150

The HUB will be committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming space for young adults aged 16 and above. Our mission is to foster personal growth, build strong social connections, and provide a platform for members to explore their interests and passions. We aim to accomplish this by offering a range of programs, including food budgeting, meal planning and sharing meals. Our senior youth group Ur-Turn prepares a meal each week to sit and share, and these moments are beneficial to all who attend. To continue this tradition and extend its benefits, we are introducing an additional evening session for the young adult in our community. 

We will provide guidance, support, and referrals to other organisations, addressing food poverty and dietary issues with the collaboration of outside agencies. By partnering with other organisations, we aim to offer the best support and guidance pathways to enhance the future confidence and wellbeing of our young adults. We are dedicated to establishing a safe, vibrant, and inclusive environment where individuals can connect, learn, and grow together. By offering a supportive and engaging atmosphere, we encourage personal development, community involvement, and the pursuit of shared goals. Our objective is to empower individuals through education, life skills, and active participation. All of our sessions will endeavour to improve their wellbeing, whilst focusing on preventive measures and raise awareness on issue-based topics such as substance misuse.

Cost Breakdown : 

Shared Meals programme = £500, Evening Sessions cost = £700, Administrative Costs = £300, Staffing and Facilitator Costs = £500, Utilities = £500.

£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