Overview: Wonderland is a community-based initiative devised by Adventure Circus SCIO in 2024. Wonderland’s aim is to bringing free outdoor circus performances and workshops to local parks in the school summer holidays. The project focuses on engaging children and families, particularly those from low-income areas, offering them the opportunity to experience live circus entertainment and actively participate in circus skills training within their own community (Crieff), out of doors during the summer. 

Our goals: 

• Access to the Arts during cost of living crisis: we want to provide children and families in low-income / semi-rural areas with the chance to see a professional circus performance, something that may otherwise be financially out of reach. 
• Skill Development: we love to share what we do, and so our performances always include an element of participation to encourage children to engage in circus skills. For example our performers will help members of the public to try juggling, hula hooping, and aerial arts, promoting physical activity, creativity and self-confidence. 
• Community Building: Our visits are intended to offer a community activity that brings local people together for a fun, inclusive and interactive experience. As an outdoor spectacle, there is no limit to the number of people who can attend. In 2024 we performed Wonderland in Crieff to approximately 250 people of all ages. 
• Wellbeing Focus: It is our long term aim that our Wonderland events provoke audience members to consider taking part in circus skills, either through our education programme, or through self practise. Circus arts have a well known reputation for improving mental/emotional wellbeing due to a long history of inclusivity, and the skills offer an opportunity for self-expression, resilience and crucially for young people, play. 

Key Activities: 

• Outdoor Circus Show: Our professional circus performers will put on an engaging outdoor show that is family-friendly and accessible to all ages.  The show is based on Alice in Wonderland and so the story concept is recognisable to many people because of it’s well known characters and timeless themes such as curiosity, exploration, personal growth, absurdity and nonsense! 

• Taster Sessions: After the performance, children and adults will be invited to try their hand at various circus skills like juggling, hula hooping and aerial hoop workshops led by the circus performers. Participants will be encouraged to experiment and learn. 

• Community Involvement: Alongside our performers, local volunteers from Adventure Circus, including our young leaders, will assist with workshop delivery and gain valuable community experience. We will spend time getting to know local people and can encourage them to join us, continue to practise independently. 

Target Audience: 

• Children aged 3-14, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds who may not experience many special activities / experiences due to the cost of living crisis and limitations of the family budget 

• Families and community members who may not typically access large-scale entertainment or arts events because they cannot afford to attend or because they do not have the means to travel out with their area due to limitations of public transport / cost. 

Benefits: 

• For Children: Encourages physical activity and boosts confidence and resilience through fun, engaging experiences. 

• For Families: Provides a free, inclusive arts/circus experience that brings joy for all the family and introduces new ways to engage in physical activity. 

• For all: floor skills such as juggling and hula hooping are extremely low cost and are accessible beyond our Wonderland experiences through our community classes, or through self exploration at home using resources such as youtube/TikTok/Instagram 

• For the Community: Strengthens local connections Adventure Circus has within different areas throughout Perth & Kinross and helps to create lasting memories by bringing a positive, uplifting event to the community. 

Outcomes: 

With your help, we will be helping to increase access to the arts for children in underserved areas, we will encourage/enhance physical and mental wellbeing through creative circus play and we will help to strengthen community cohesion and pride in local parks as venues for cultural and recreational activities. 

By bringing the magic of the circus directly to the community, Wonderland creates a free, accessible opportunity for children to see, learn, and play, and best of all, it is all set up right in their own parkland!

Video: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17929916303875766/

2025 will be our fourth year running our Back to School Pack. In 2021 we provided 152 packs, in 2022 - 340, in 2023 - 400, and in 2024 we provided 512 Back to School Packs and 91 Back to Nursery Packs (our first year running this service). Our Packs are available to anyone who lives in these wards.

What is in a Back to School Pack? 

Our packs include 3 shirts, 2 bottoms, 2 jumpers/cardis, 2 PE t shirts, 2 PE bottoms, a PE jumper and a school bag. We also aim to include school shoes and/or trainers plus stationary and other back to school essentials like pack lunch boxes or pencil cases. Everything a child needs for taking part in their school journey. 

What is in a Back to Nursery Pack?

Our Back to Nursery packs include 5 days of mix and match outfits; 5 jumpers, 5 t-shirts, 5 bottoms, messy play clothing, a seasonal jacket and footwear. We also add in extras such as sun hats, vests and socks as we know children need these items to fully participate in their learning and no one comes home clean after one day in nursery!

Packs are personalised to each schools colours and the child’s style preferences (so you can tell us if they won’t wear shorts, or will only wear cardigans!) and their sensory needs to make sure the packs are made to suit the individual. We also ask for bag colours and characters and try our hardest to match up to their personal style. We believe our service should make the child feel confident and comfortable that they match their peers. 

SO IF YOU THINK THAT...

- All children should have access to high quality school uniform?

- We should protect our environment and make positive pre-loved clothing choices? 

- By making little changes to our own lifestyle to support others we can make big changes for the future of our children?

Then please support us by voting for our Back to School & Nursery Pack project.  Thank you.

Team Social Flock

For the last year and a half, coaches who live locally from stirling shinty club along with  Active Schools Coordinator for Crieff & Fairview  Nick Keiller, have been running primary age after school clubs in crieff. A club session for primary aged kids has also developed this with kids playing in local and national festivals and competitions. Currently crieff has access to plastic first shinty equipment , but to move to the next level and start sessions in the high school, we are looking for wooden sticks, helmets , balls and Multi purpose goals. This equipment would be used for outdoor school competitions , from primary and secondary schools, festivals, PE lessons and after school clubs  We hope to develop Shinty as a sport for the local community where kids will grow up to be part of local club, and be part of a traditional sport that is at the heart of many areas in scotland, which can grow  in strathearn, as it has for clubs in Lochabar , Badenoch, Oban, Inverness to Glasgow.

Whilst the charity is focused on the young people the range of activities they are involved in allows respite for their families and carers. By delivering more than 5,000 hours of purposeful activities every year, our members can each benefit safely from over 4 hours per week of vital socialisation and friendship.

The heating costs of community halls has gone through the roof, it has meant that halls have to charge a lot more for rent, whether they want to or not. It is heating costs that have prevented our clubs from moving premises. The cost-of-living crisis has impacted in particular on the poorer and less able members of clubs. Many members spend the majority of their time at home, so are affected to a greater extent by the increased heating costs. If we receive money we will be able to continue to offer these sessions at affordable prices to the young people.

We are seeking funds for the cost of the room hire for activity classes stated below and the cost of the Volunteer Co-ordinator for next year. We can only deliver these projects by having a roster of 24 local volunteers who unfailingly offer their time to support our range of activities, and having a co-ordinator to support them is essential. The total cost is £7,030. However we are seeking £2,343 (a third of this cost to equate to the proportion of our young people living in South Crieff ward). 

We run the following activities which makes a huge difference. •    Tuesday Club social group – weekly, average 20 attendees – promotes social and interpersonal skills and with the support of volunteers allows members with learning disabilities to access a range of enjoyable activities of their choice including arts and crafts, games, quizzes, films, music and trips further afield. •    Wednesday Social afternoon group – weekly, average 6 attendees – meeting to socialise and enjoy games, music and films. •    Knock Down social & citizenship group – fortnightly, average 15 attendees – similar to Tuesday Club, but with more emphasis on partnerships and involvement with other local groups and organisations, such as Crieff Highland Gathering, Perthshire Amateur Operatic Society, Remake Scotland and the Co-op. •    Thursday Zoom informal friendship group – meeting fortnightly via Zoom with average 6 attendees. A one-hour online get-together to chat about what each person has been doing recently and to share news. Hosted by two adult volunteers. •    Boccia group in partnership with P&K Disability Sport – weekly, average 15 attendees (including some younger, non-SBB members) •    Saturday Lunch Club- a  popular kitchen workshop - monthly for 3 hours with 6 places. Members are taught food skills to prepare and make a themed lunch led by an Activity Leader and supported by volunteers. The group then sits down to enjoy lunch together and chat.

The Star Garden workshops will aim to involve the local young people in the community in gardening and other outdoor activities. We want to provide the children and young adults of Crieff with more exposure to gardening, composting, and sustainable gardening techniques. We understand not everyone has access to their own garden or gardening equipment, therefore with these workshops we aim to provide an opportunity to let a possible passion flourish amongst the youth. These workshops will provide a non-mainstream educational offering of engaging activities, in which the local youth will learn a range of skills both working as part of a team as well as independently.

The workshops will involve learning basic gardening techniques, such as planting and discussing growth cycles. Garden art, such as painting plant pots and other crafts. Composting workshop, learning about what can and cannot be composted. Herb and vegetable gardening, creating a ‘salad garden’ and learning how to care for herbs. Gardening also has many benefits for individuals with sensory affected disabilities. The activities in the workshops will help support the development of motor skills, can encourage emotional regulation, aid cognitive development, help deal with sensory responses and more.

The ‘Crieff Gleam Team’, who do litter picking in the local area, is something of interest to us as well, and we would like to also support their work during our workshops and get young people more involved in the community in which they live. We want to encourage the youth to explore the potential that comes with living in a rural location, such as having the opportunity to grow their own food in the garden, having a large outdoor space where they can come to relax and feel at peace. It is worth noting that the workshops will be free of charge for all those participating, as our main priority is to provide an opportunity for the youth of Crieff to explore new interests and hobbies.

To ensure the sustainability of these activities, we will run the workshops throughout June, July, and August. We plan to provide cover to accommodate the unpredictable Scottish weather, ensuring that the workshops can proceed rain or shine.