School Uniform Bank - Back to School & Nursery (Rattray)
2025-02-07 • No comments • • Rattray
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
Coupar Angus PS Toast For All
2025-02-07 • No comments • • Coupar Angus, Meigle & Alyth
Coupar Angus PS Parent Council would love the opportunity to provide each pupil with a piece of toast when they come into school in the morning. Research has shown that eating breakfast is important for everyone, but especially for children. In general, kids who skip breakfast will feel tired, restless and irritable. Eating a healthy breakfast has been shown to help attention span, concentration and memory - all very important for learning.
Senior pupils carried out a breakfast survey, the majority of pupils surveyed said they do have breakfast most days, however 6% said they don’t have breakfast before school. Pupils said when they don’t have breakfast in the morning they come into school feeling hungry, tired, unhappy, sad & angry. 86% of pupils surveyed said they would like to be offered toast when they first come into school.
P7 teacher Mrs Gourlay believes offering each child something to eat in the morning will improve learning & behaviour within the classroom.
Around 20% of pupils at Coupar Angus PS are classed as living within relative poverty – we want to do anything we can to help these pupils by offering warm toast as they come into school. Giving every child the best start in life is the first of five strategic priorities adopted by Perth & Kinross Council and we believe providing breakfast will give them a good start to their day.
Coupar Angus PS currently runs a breakfast club from 8am however this is chargeable at £2 per day which could potentially exclude some families. Toast For All will be free for every pupil.
We plan to run Toast For All initially on a Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and if it’s as big as a success as we think it will be we hope to roll it out to 5 days per week. We plan to start on the first day of term after the Easter holidays on Wednesday 23rd April and run until the Easter holidays in 2026. The teachers will monitor improvements in learning/behaviour and we will do more surveys with the children to gauge their opinions on the project.
A rota will be drawn up for each week and a teacher/volunteer will arrive at 8.45am and prepare the toast. It will be put on lidded trays to keep it warm and senior pupils will take it around all classes at 9.05am and offer it to every pupil.
We believe every child should have something warm to fill their tummy in the mornings and we hope this will improve behaviour, attention spans and willingness to learn.
North Muirton Community Allotments
2025-02-07 • 5 comments • • Central and North Perth
After public consultation we know that there is demand for community allotments in the North Muirton area.
These will provide a huge range of benefits to those who are involved, including fresh, sustainable food, a real sense of community, exercise and fresh air, access to others’ knowledge and skills, and access to a tool library.
The increased cost of living is affecting everybody, and having somewhere local, cheap, and healthy to meet others will be of huge benefit. Allotments often become social hubs for those who engage, meaning people will not need to pay to travel into the city centre to meet friends. Tools are often a large expense in gardening and DIY, the library will alleviate this allowing people to make meaningful improvements to their home, garden, and life.
This is not a profit making exercise. We expect to charge at most £30 per year to cover the cost of general upkeep and stocking the tool library.
We are also in conversation with Riverside Primary School and if successful will provide them an allotment for free to help educate the next generation on food, nutrition, budgeting, and sustainability.
North Muirton Community Group is well established as a constituted group that works to support local people, running free lunches, multiple Community Fun Days which attract hundreds of people, maintaining the local Community Hall and providing that space at low rates for other groups to use.
There is a disused and graffiti covered pitch owned by the council that in principal they have agreed we can use for allotments when we have the funding in place. It is currently an eyesore between the community and the river, a common dog walking spot, so transforming it visually would also be an important benefit to the community.
This funding would get us started on the project but not finished. Securing the allotments from vandalism is vitally important and this funding would go towards that in the main. The next step would be building in the actual allotments and acquiring tools, before launching them for the community.
Partizan Allstars
2025-02-03 • No comments • • Central and North Perth
Partizan Gymnasium is a new Boxing and Kickboxing Gym based in North Muirton Perth. I’ve grown up and lived in North Muirton and aspire to give back to the community after travelling the world gaining a wealth of experience in both sports and achieving Scottish & British titles.
Knowing how boxing and kickboxing has enhanced my life, my aim is to share what I’ve experienced with the local community and provide a chance for people to get involved in both sports. In response to the cost-of-living crisis and the continuous interest from youths and community organisations it has inspired us to develop this free programme to support young people, provide new opportunities to learn skills, without putting financial strains on families.
Through Boxing and Kickboxing we can address so many social issues and we are keen to work with partners in the community to tackle these. After recent spates of anti-social behaviour there is an increasing number of youths who are disengaged.
At Partizan Gymnasium we want to promote a sense of pride in the community which is why we are developing a new angle of approach to widen opportunities to get involved with sport, in a safe environment, with our motivated and keen coaches and volunteers who are positive role models supporting this programme.
Partnership working is key to our proposal, we already have a wide range of partners on board including interest from the Police Scotland and the Safer Communities team and we are keen to explore new partnerships. As we build trust with our young people we can support them to build confidence and develop skills in the sport that they can use in their everyday life and become a part of the community. We can work with them to engage with the community supports available to them through partner organisations that can provide them with the supports they need, improving their life chances.
We plan to run a referral system for this programme and we are keen to work with Schools and Community organisations/ groups who are at the frontline and working with youths deemed hard to reach, as a result of the impact of the cost of living crisis.
We will run 3 Allstars programmes targeting different age groups throughout the year and we plan to work with 20 individuals each programme.
The 12 week programme is divided into 3 key areas and can be adapted to reflect the different age groups involved, some activities may change in order keep things fun and engaging.
The full programme can be viewed as an attachment and will cover three main areas.
Week 1 – 4 = Fundamentals (Weeks 1 – 4)
Week 5 – 8 = Wellbeing, Fitness and Nutrition (Weeks 5-8)
Week 9 -12 = Technique and Finesse (Weeks 9 – 12)
As part of our funding, we will purchase additional boxing gloves, shin guards and pads required for participants to use during the programme, this equipment is costly and can be reused for those who aren’t able to buy their own equipment. I would also like to offer Allstars participants a Partizan Gymnasium T-shirt and certificate on completion of the programme.
With this funding we will also look to upskill volunteers with Boxing Scotland coaching qualifications, First Aid training and cover the cost of PVG scheme disclosures.
Being able to offer opportunities like this to the community and share my passion was entirely why Partizan Gymnasium was set up, Allstars success will also provide evidence for future programmes and the future of Partizan Gymnasium.
Get Into Tennis and Bowling - Under 12s Free Memberships for 2025-2026
2025-02-05 • No comments • • Coupar Angus, Meigle & Alyth
We want to offer more sports opportunities to primary aged children to encourage them to have a more active lifestyle. One of the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis means parents/carers are unable to afford to give their children this chance. During Health Week, the Primary School children take to the bowling green and tennis courts and love trying out the sports, so we aim to provide more of them with the opportunity to continue playing and having fun.
We would offer free memberships for children in local primary schools and 50% off all lessons and Easter and Summer camps throughout the period March 2025-March 2026.
We provide free access to all equipment which is available to any child when the club is open, over and beyond the coaching and camp sessions.
The Alyth Bowling & Tennis Club is located next to the Alyth Primary School and is easily accessible on foot in the middle of the town.
We have reached our estimated cost of the project by reviewing figures for the past 2 years of families paying for yearly membership, regular lesson blocks and participating in Easter and Summer camps. We have given ourselves a stretch target of 100% increase in the number of children accessing sport. We have estimated the cost of this project to cover 50 children getting free memberships and 50% off all lessons and camps for one year.
Crieff Community Garden
2025-01-27 • No comments • • South Crieff
Crieff Community Gardeners are a constituted community group based in Crieff Community Garden.
Our current space offers numerous opportunities for community groups to take part, whether it’s growing vegetables in one of our many raised beds, or creating bee friendly zones in our wild meadow section, or hosting wellness meetings in our open green spaces. In order to maintain the garden, we need to purchase annual plants and bulbs together with compost and bark.
Crieff Community Gardeners host free family events throughout the year- our first one of 2025 being an Easter celebration with an egg hunt and games. These events require catering, crafts and activities, as well as marquee hire and prizes.
Wonderland Event - Coupar Angus
2025-01-21 • No comments • • Coupar Angus, Meigle & Alyth
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 Perthshire. 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 (Coupar Angus), out of doors during the summer holidays.
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 Coupar Angus 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/
School Uniform Bank - Back to School & Nursery (Central and North Perth)
2025-02-07 • 1 comment • • Central and North Perth
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
Wellmeadow ABC wants to make boxing accessible to all
2025-02-07 • No comments • • Rattray
The club is based in Rattray and offers boxing lessons with separate classes for both adults and children. We are run totally by volunteers who give up their free time to ensure the club keeps running. Some of these volunteers have been brought up in poverty and can share their own experiences how much boxing helped them through that and other challenges in life.
We also share our space with local mens mental health charity Mantalk. We are very aware of the benefits boxing can have on not only your physical wellbeing but your mental health also. We work closely with Mantalk to encourage some of the guys along to give boxing a try and this has been massive in helping some of the Mantalk men.
We are affiliated with Boxing Alliance Scotland which allows our boxers to compete in competitions. This gives the boxers the opportunity to showcase their learning and abilities and gives them memories for life. We currently have two novice champions and one open Scottish champion however no matter if it’s a win, lose or a draw these opportunities give so much to their development, not only as a boxer but as a human being.
We are a not for profit club and any money we take in goes towards keeping our minibus on the road, travelling to competitions, heating and replacing any small damages. Boxing is a sport that needs to be accessible to all so we try to keep our membership fee down to ensure it is. Currently we ask kids for £10 a month( around 80p per session) and adults £20(around £1.60 a session). No one is ever turned away because they are unable to pay. In an ideal world we wouldn’t take any money as we believe sport should never be barriers for getting involved in sport however with the little we have coming in its already very hard to sustain.
This brings us to why we are applying for funding. Due to very little funds its very hard to update, renew the equipment we need to continue to offer this great sport at low cost and safe to the community. The basics needing renewed come to a total cost of just over £7000 which is a massive amount, we are asking for £5000 in this application and we have just raised around £1300 and with the young boxers planning a sponsored hill climb we would look to make up the remaining amount. These are things that we will have no choice to get to keep the club running safely and if the funding application is not successful then we will have to explore other options. The last thing we want to do is raise any memberships which would then put up a lot of barriers for those already struggling to the cost of living.
For those not involved in boxing it can be hard to understand the sport, however it gives so many people a sense of belonging. It offers discipline, fitness, opportunities to compete with the best and the benefits to mental health is immeasurable. If our project is given the green light then we will be offering free boxing lessons to any resident of Rattray for free for 10 weeks to allow them to give it a try and see the benefits for them self
Strathearn Building Bridges
2025-02-07 • No comments • • South Crieff
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.